Loaf

Loaf
x = 4, y = 4, rule = B3/S23 b2o$o2bo$bobo$2bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 3 ZOOM 21 HEIGHT 400 SUPPRESS ]]
View static image
Pattern type	Strict still life
Number of cells	7
Bounding box	4 × 4
Static symmetry	Unspecified
Discovered by	JHC group
Year of discovery	1970
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B/S2 – B3678/S012345678 # of rules 212 = 4096
Glider synthesis Fewest gliders 2 Uploaded synthesis RLE loaf_synth.rle
Pattern files Plaintext loaf.cells RLE loaf.rle

Loaf is a 7-cell still life discovered by the JHC group in 1970. It is the third most common still life, being about a third as common as beehive but only slightly more common than boat.

Uses

A loaf has a partial eater property: certain collisions can destroy the upper rightmost two cells (in the orientation shown in the picture), after which the remainder of the pattern will evolve into a new loaf, flipped 180°. Eater 3 is an actual eater making use of this reaction.

A similar reaction to this involves a block "eating" a loaf, similarly to how the beehives in the queen bee shuttle are removed; stabilising this can be used to construct the Baker's dozen.

See also

• Baker
• Beehive
• List of common still lifes
• Loaf siamese loaf
• Mango
• Wing

External links

• Loaf at the Life Lexicon

• Loaf at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue

• The 4 seven-bit still-lifes at Mark D. Niemiec's Life Page