2293: RIP John Conway

2020-04-14T07:26:12Z

Evilwombat:

{{comic
| number = 2293
| date = April 13, 2020
| title = RIP John Conway
| image = rip_john_conway.gif
| titletext = 1937-2020
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GLIDER. Needs more in-depth explanation of how the Game Evolves, possibly with stills from the GIF. Should also expand more on why Conway is a person of note. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|John Horton Conway|John Conway}}, an English mathematician, passed away of {{w|COVID-19}}. Two days later, [[Randall]] created this memorial comic. One of Conway's most famous creations was {{w|Conway's Game of Life}}, which consists of a grid of square cells with rules for how they change over time.

In a given generation, each cell can either be ''alive'' or ''dead'' (empty). To compute the grid for the next generation, these rules are used:
*Any live cell with two or three live neighbors survives to the next generation.
*Any dead cell with three live neighbors becomes a live cell in the next generation.
*All other live cells die in the next generation. Similarly, all other dead cells stay dead.

Although the rules are simple, enormously complex patterns can develop from them, such as "still lifes" (which do not change over generations), "oscillators" (which cycle repeatedly through a set of patterns over a specific period), and "spaceships" (which reproduce their own pattern at an offset from the original).

This comic begins with the shape of a stick figure as the starting configuration, which then evolves according to the rules of the Game of Life. The pattern breaks into three parts, two of which stay at the same level as the original figure's feet before rapidly melting away, and a third (called a "glider") that ascends up and to the right. Randall may be suggesting a soul breaking away from the rapidly disintegrating corporeal remains here.

The initial state of the game presented in the comic *does*, in fact, evolve as depicted, according to the rules above.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A pixelated image of a stick figure. The image is animated, with the pixels changing according to the rules of Conway's Game of Life. The figure splits into two groups, one of which dissipates. The other becomes a 'glider' and moves off to the top-right corner of the image and out of frame. The animation then repeats.]

{| class="wikitable"
!Generation
!Notes
|-
|[[File:Generation 0.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=0]]||Starting state (or "zeroth generation").
|-
|[[File:Generation 1.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=1]]||First generation. Note that this image is not aligned with the previous one: the position of all cells has shifted downward by one cell. All further generations are aligned the same as this one.
|-
|[[File:Generation 2.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=2]]||Second generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 3.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=3]]||Third generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 4.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=4]]||Fourth generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 5.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=5]]||Fifth generation.
|-
|[[File:Generation 6.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=6]]||Sixth generation. The first appearance of the glider, a well-known formation in Conway's Game of Life.
|-
|[[File:Generation 7.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=7]]||Seventh generation. The glider takes on its other shape.
|-
|[[File:Generation 8.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=8]]||Eighth generation. The glider returns to its first shape, pointing right instead of up.
|-
|[[File:Generation 9.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=9]]||Ninth generation. The glider's second shape again, pointing right instead of up.
|-
|[[File:Generation 10.jpg|thumb|XKCD tribute to Conway T=10]]||Tenth generation. The glider is now in its original form, but one cell higher and one cell to the right. It will continue to progress, cycling through these four states every four generations. The remains of the chaos down below will take two more generations to disappear completely.
|}

{{comic discussion}}

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2293: RIP John Conway