Queen bee shuttle pair

A queen bee shuttle pair is any arrangement of two queen bee shuttles such that the two beehives created between them are consumed in some way. There are many ways that the two shuttles can be placed, either head-to-head, or else at right angles. The most well-known and useful arrangement results in the Gosper glider gun.

Other arrangements don't create any lasting output, but create large sparks which can perturb objects (especially gliders) in various ways. For example, one arrangement of a queen bee shuttle pair was used in the original unit Life cell as a memory cell. Here an input glider is converted into a block, which remains until it is deleted by a glider on a right-angled path.

x = 25, y = 27, rule = B3/S23 23bo$22bo$22b3o2$13bo$12bobo$12b2obo$12b2ob2o$12b2obo$2b2o8bobo$bobo9b o4b3o$bo16b3o$2o15bo3bo$16bo5bo$17bo3bo$18b3o8$16b2o$17bo$14b3o$14bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 400 THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 10 GPS 8 AUTOSTART LOOP 90 ]]

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

Below is a p60 Quetzal LWSS gun that shows 5 different queen bee shuttle pair reactions.

x = 150, y = 131, rule = B3/S23 125b3o$124bo2bo$127bo$127bo$124bobo$90bo$90b3o$93bo$92b2o4$16bo$16b3o$ 19bo$18b2o46bo$66bobo6bo16b2o3b2o$67bobo4bobo$67bo2bo3bobo16bo3bo$67bo bo5bo18b3o$56b2o8bobo25b3o$55bobo8bo$55bo16b2o3b2o$2o52b2o16bo5bo19bo 2b2o4b2o2bo$bo16b2o3b2o72bo3b3o2b3o3bo$bobo5bobo8b3o50bo3bo15b3o2bo2b 2o4b2o2bo$2b2o5bo2bo6bo3bo50b3o10bobo3b3o$12b2o6bobo64b2o3bo3bo$10bo3b 2o5bo66bo2bo5bo$12b2o78bo3bo$9bo2bo80b3o29b3o$9bobo112bo2bo$26b2o99bo$ 26bobo45b2o51bo$26bo47b2o3b2o43bobo$79b2o3$96b2o$96bo$97b3o$72bobo24bo $72b2o$73bo$14bo15b2o$14b3o13bobo$17bo14bo60bo$16b2o13b2ob2o5b2o49b2o$ 32bobo6bobo48bobo$30bobo2bo5bo$30b2o2b2o3$19b2o8b2obo7b2o$18bob2o7b2ob 3o4bobo71bo$18bo3bo12bo3bo73b3o$19b3o7b2ob3o3b2o17bobo17bo38bo$12b2o6b o4b2o3bobo4bo19b2o7bo9b3o36b2o$11bobo11bobo2bobo4bo20bo6b3o7b5o$11bo 15bo3bo4b2obo7bo$10b2o15b2o6bo2b2o7bobo68bo6b3o$35b2o13b2o13b3o40bo9bo 5bo2bo$50b2o55b2o8bobo7bo$50b2o13bobo39bobo6b2ob2o6bo$47bobo5b2o8bobo 47bo5bo2bobo$47bo7bobo17b5o38bo$57bo7b3o8b3o36b2o3b2o$57b2o18bo$85b3o$ 65b3o19bo26b3o$31bo34bo19bo26b2obo$32bo80b2o$30b3o81b2o$90b2o23bobo$ 48bo42bo12b2o9bo2b2o$15b2o29b2ob2o40bobo10b2o$16bo33bo41b2o$16bobo6bob o18bo3bo16bobo34b4o$17b2o6bo3bo17b3o16bo2bo33bo3bo$29bo37bo2bob2o30bo$ 25bo4bo39bo2bo28bobo9b5o$29bo41b2o29b2o9bob3obo$25bo3bo6bo34b2o19b2o 12b2o6bo3bo$25bobo6b2ob2o52b2ob2o11bo7b3o$47b2o32b2o8b2ob2o11bobo6bo$ 33bo5bo7bo20b2o11b2o10b3o12b2o$48bo20bo43b2o$33b2obob2o7b2o17b3o45bo$ 66bo44b3o$91bo19bo$91bo33b3o$90b3o13bo17bo2bo$104bobo20bo$105b2o20bo$ 38b2o50b3o31bobo$38bo52bo$39b3o49bo$41bo49bo$91bo$90b3o3$90b3o$91bo$ 91bo2$121bo$119bobo$120b2o3$141bo$140b4o$139b2obobo$138b3obo2bo$139b2o bob2o$140b4ob3o$128bo12bo4bobo$127b3o18bo$126b5o17b2o$125bobobobo$125b 2o3b2o6$130b2o$130bo$131b3o$133bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ MAXGRIDSIZE 9 HEIGHT 600 WIDTH 700 THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 4 GPS 30 AUTOSTART LOOP 60 ]]

Bottom left: glider to Herschel Top left: glider to LWSS Top: a stabilisation for reducing bounding boxes Top right: a p30 gun that is not the Gosper glider gun Right: Gosper glider gun Bottom right: glider to LWSS (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here

External links

• Queen bee shuttle pair at the Life Lexicon