The Game of Life

The simple mathematical game that inspired the pattern on the facade at Cambridge North station – live interview with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

Examples (image credits: Wikipedia)

Stable ‘still-life’ patterns that remain fixed for every turn.

Block                 Beehive             Boat                Loaf                    Tub

‘Oscillators’ that cycle through a number of designs repeating every few turns.

Beacon (period 2)     Blinker (period 2)     Toad (period 2)

Pulsar (period 3)          Pentadecathlon (period 15)

Spaceships that travel across the board forever.

Glider             Lightweight Spaceship

You can play the game of life for yourself online here.