Four lines of rules, shorthanded B3/S23, are enough to build a computer. A live cell with 2 or 3 live neighbours survives, fewer and it dies of loneliness, more and it dies of crowding, while a dead cell with exactly 3 neighbours is born. On this 90×56 grid, five cells arranged as a glider crawl diagonally forever, a Gosper gun spits out one glider every 30 generations, and the R-pentomino, a mere five cells, thrashes for over 1100 generations on an unbounded grid before it finally settles.
▸ Building a 90×56 grid — each cell alive or dead…
Each cell looks ONLY at its 8 neighbours then follows 4 live/die rules. No cell knows the "plan" — yet gliders, guns, even a computer EMERGE from ultra-simple rules.
—
Bright cell = alive (darkens with age) · click/drag to draw cells · press ▶ to evolve · try "Gosper gun" / "R-pentomino"
Your browser has canvas disabled.
Population over generationspopulation
About Conway's Life
Four lines of rules, shorthanded B3/S23, are enough to build a computer. A live cell with 2 or 3 live neighbours survives, fewer and it dies of loneliness, more and it dies of crowding, while a dead cell with exactly 3 neighbours is born. On this 90×56 grid, five cells arranged as a glider crawl diagonally forever, a Gosper gun spits out one glider every 30 generations, and the R-pentomino, a mere five cells, thrashes for over 1100 generations on an unbounded grid before it finally settles.