Clock

Clock
2bo$obo$bobo$bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ AUTOSTART ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 3 ZOOM 42 HEIGHT 400 LOOP 2 GPS 2 ]]
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Pattern type	Oscillator
Oscillator type	Muttering moat
Family	Clock
Number of cells	6
Bounding box	4 × 4
Frequency class	19.4
Period	2 (mod: 1)
Heat	8
Volatility	0.80 | 0.80
Kinetic symmetry	.kxk
Rotor type	Clock
Discovered by	Simon Norton
Year of discovery	1970
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B3/S3 – B35678/S02345678 # of rules 211 = 2048 Isotropic rules B3jn/S3y – B2-a34-j5678/S02345678
Glider synthesis Fewest gliders 4 Catagolue-generated RLE synthesis Uploaded synthesis RLE clock_synth.rle
Pattern files Plaintext clock.cells RLE clock.rle
Identifiers apgcode xp2_2a54 Pentadecathlon ID 6P2.3

Clock is a period-2 oscillator found by Simon Norton in May 1970. The rotor of clock is a muttering moat and is identical to that of quad.

Clock serves as the logo of WinLifeSearch.

Use as a sparker

Clock can also serve as a weak corner dot sparker - although the edge cells cannot birth new cells without being destroyed, they can be used to suppress cell birth by overpopulation, as seen in p124 lumps of muck hassler, period-184 glider gun and p82 pi-heptomino hassler.

Very occasionally, a clock can suppress a long line.

5b3o$5b3o$2bo3bo$2o$2b2o2bo$bo4bo3bo$6bo2bo2bo$9bo2bo$11bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ GPS 2 THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

In this p2 traffic light catalyst, a clock partially suppresses a six-cell edge. (click above to open LifeViewer)

Clock can also be combined with fox to make a periodic catalyst:

x = 33, y = 33, rule = B3/S23 28bo$7b2o18bobo$6bo2bo16bo2bo$7b2o18b2o2$6bo4bo14bo4bo$2bobobo2bobo10b obobo2bobo$4bobo3bobo11bobo3bobo$2o8bo9b2o8bo$2bo2bo16bo2bo$4bo19bo$4b o19bo10$7b2o13bob2ob2o$8bo13b2obobo$7bo19bo$7b2o18b2o2$6bo4bo14bo4bo$ 2bobobo2bobo10bobobo2bobo$4bobo3bobo11bobo3bobo$2o8bo9b2o8bo$2bo2bo16bo2bo$4bo19bo$4bo19bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 GPS 4 ZOOM 12 HEIGHT 500 AUTOSTART T 0 PAUSE 4 T 26 PAUSE 2 LOOP 27 ]]

(click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here

Extensibility

The clock is a part of a family of p2 oscillators that can be seen as stabilisations for the zebra stripes/chicken wire agar. Such extensions may lose symmetry. The next most simple oscillator in the family is cha cha.

cha cha (long clock)

Very long clock

Occurrence

See also: List of common oscillators

Clock is the sixth most common oscillator in Achim Flammenkamp's census, being somewhat less frequent than the pentadecathlon, but much rarer than the blinker, toad, beacon or pulsar. It is by far the rarest 6-bit object, being about 45 times rarer than the snake. It is also the sixty-second most common object on Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue.

The smallest predecessor to the clock that doesn't contain a clock itself has eight cells.

Glider synthesis

All strict still lifes with a population of 22 or fewer cells, all oscillators with 16 or fewer cells, and all spaceships with 31 or fewer cells are known to be glider-constructible. A glider synthesis of this object can be found in the infobox to the right.

In other rules

In outer-totalistic rules, clock can follow at least three different p2 cycles depending on the rule, which all have mod 1.

• In rules such as B4/S1 the inner two cells oscillate similarly to a duoplet in Seeds.
• In rules such as B3/S3, the outer cells oscillate (this being the sequence seen in Life).
• In rules such as B34/S, both of these evolutions take place simultaneously, causing it to evolve into an inverted version of itself and therefore making it a phoenix.

This gives three different p2 sequences:

Evolution of the clock across different rules

B3/S3 to B35678/S02345678	B34/S to B345678/S0245678	B4/S1 to B45678/S01245678

Further sequences are possible in non-totalistic rules; for instance, in B3j/S1, clock cycles with one phase of toad. Other rules with period-2 clock evolution sequences include B3j/S12a3y4k, B3j4j/S13aiy6c, B3jn4aj/S1c3y4a6a and B3n/S12ce3jy4y.

In most rules similar to Life where the clock works the same way it does in Life, the clock is similarly rare; its unusual uncommonness is not unique to Life.

See also

• Bi-clock
• Clock 2
• Clock insertion

External links

• Clock at the Life Lexicon
• Clock at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue
• The 3 six-bit period 2 oscillators at Mark D. Niemiec's Life Page (download pattern file: 0/6ck.rle)
• 6P2.3 at Heinrich Koenig's Game of Life Object Catalogs
• Natural Clock at Game of Life News. Posted by Heinrich Koenig on January 30, 2007.