Shillelagh

Shillelagh
x = 5, y = 3, rule = B3/S23 2o$o2b2o$b2obo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C Still life
View static image
Pattern type	Strict still life
Number of cells	8
Bounding box	5×3
Frequency class	13.7
Discovered by	Charles Corderman Hugh Thompson
Year of discovery	1971
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B/S23 – B3678/S012345678 Important rules Conway Life, HighLife # of rules 211 = 2048 Isotropic rules B/S2aek3n – B2in34-kr5-q678/S012345678
Glider synthesis Fewest gliders 4 Catagolue-generated RLE shillelagh_synth.rle Uploaded synthesis RLE shillelagh_synth.rle
Pattern files Plaintext shillelagh.cells RLE shillelagh.rle
Identifiers apgcode xs8_3pm Pentadecathlon ID 8.2

Shillelagh is an 8-cell still life discovered by Charles Corderman and Hugh Thompson in 1971.

This still life is comprised of the normally unstable pre-block with a normally unstable long tail attached. It resembles an intermediate between the snake and the long integral.

Commonness

Shillelagh is the nineteenth most common still life on Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue, being less common than integral sign but more common than boat-tie. Among all still lifes with 8 cells, it is the fifth most common, being less common than long ship but more common than tub with tail. It is also the twenty-sixth most common object overall on Catagolue.

Shillelagh is the eighteenth most common still life in Achim Flammenkamp's census, being less common than long ship but more common than integral sign.

Glider synthesis

All strict still lifes with a population of 20 or fewer cells, as well as all oscillators and spaceships with 16 or fewer cells, are known to be glider-constructible. A glider synthesis of this object can be found in the infobox to the right.

Extensibility

Shillelagh can be infinitely extended, as illustrated by the following:

Long shillelagh	Very long shillelagh	Long^3 shillelagh	Long^4 shillelagh

As a catalyst

While it does not have any unique uses, it can take the place of a snake in some cases, such as Conduit 1. This can reduce the bounding box by a row or column, as the snake is four cells tall, and the shillelagh is only three.

x = 7, y = 12, rule = B3/S23 b2o$2b2o$b2o2b2o$bo3b2o6$b2obo$o2b2o$2o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ]] Conduit 1 with a shillelagh (click above to open LifeViewer)

External links

• Shillelagh at the Life Lexicon

• Shillelagh at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue

• The 9 eight-bit still-lifes at Mark D. Niemiec's Life Page