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*Any dead cell with exactly three live cells in the surrounding 8 cells will come alive (reproduction) | *Any dead cell with exactly three live cells in the surrounding 8 cells will come alive (reproduction) | ||
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A very good program for exploring cellular automata including “Game of Life” is “[http://golly.sourceforge.net Golly]”. Click the link to learn more and download the proper version according to your operating system. Operating it is as simple as | A very good program for exploring and playing with cellular automata including “Game of Life” is “[http://golly.sourceforge.net Golly]”. Click the link to learn more and download the proper version according to your operating system. Operating it is as simple as using Paint program, and it make things much easier to procure the numerous generations. The default pen tool is used to draw new cells or mark alive cells dead. You can also change the speed at which each generation is computed. | ||
[[File:Screen_Golly.png|900px|left|thumb|Screenshot of the Golly interface]] | [[File:Screen_Golly.png|900px|left|thumb|Screenshot of the Golly interface]] | ||
After you've | After you've been familiar with Golly and tried it with random patterns or the ones found in the left panel, you would have noticed that some of the patterns occur frequently. The patterns which remain still for all subsequent generations are called 'Still Lives'. Examples include the “Block” and the “Beehive”. Some patterns moving across the field at different speeds and directions are called spaceships. The smallest spaceship is known as the “Glider”. The “LWSS” is short for “Light Weight Space Ship”. Other patterns repeat after certain generations while maintaining their positions. These are called oscillators. The “Blinker” and the “Beacon” are the most common oscillator. | ||
[[File:Block.png|100px]] [[File:Beehive.png|100px]] [[File:Glider.png|100px]] [[File:LWSS.png|100px]] [[File:Blinker.png|100px]] [[File:Beacon.png|100px]] | [[File:Block.png|100px]] [[File:Beehive.png|100px]] [[File:Glider.png|100px]] [[File:LWSS.png|100px]] [[File:Blinker.png|100px]] [[File:Beacon.png|100px]] |
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