Specimen catalogue

All 24 verified specimens in the drawer — 7 still lifes, 6 oscillators, 4 spaceships, 2 emitters and 5 seeds — with their proven periods, displacements and stabilisation behaviour.

The drawer ships 24 specimens across five categories. Every period, displacement or stabilisation figure below was confirmed by simulating the real pattern — see Verification for how. Dimensions are the pattern's own bounding box; population is its starting cell count.

There is deliberately no puffer. A puffer leaves a trail of debris as it moves. Over 2,600 candidate arrangements were searched and long-run looking for one with a clean, repeating signature — none qualified, so none shipped rather than shipping one on a guess. Full detail in Verification.

Still lifes

• block

  2×2 · population 4

  Four cells in a square; the smallest and most common still life.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

• beehive

  4×3 · population 6

  A six-cell hexagonal still life, the second most common ash object.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

• loaf

  4×4 · population 7

  A seven-cell still life shaped like a beehive with a tail.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

• boat

  3×3 · population 5

  A five-cell still life; the only five-cell still life besides its reflections.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

• tub

  3×3 · population 4

  Four cells in a diamond, the smallest still life with a hole.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

• ship

  3×3 · population 6

  A six-cell still life; two boats fused along a diagonal.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

• pond

  4×4 · population 8

  An eight-cell still life with a 2x2 hole.

  Still life — unchanged forever.

Oscillators

• blinker

  3×1 · population 3

  Three cells that flip between horizontal and vertical every generation.

  Oscillator — period 2.

• toad

  4×2 · population 6

  Two offset rows of three that breathe in and out.

  Oscillator — period 2.

• beacon

  4×4 · population 8

  Two diagonally touching blocks whose inner corners blink off and on.

  Oscillator — period 2.

• clock

  4×4 · population 6

  A six-cell period-2 oscillator whose arms rotate a quarter turn.

  Oscillator — period 2.

• pulsar

  13×13 · population 48

  A large, highly symmetric period-3 oscillator; the most common of its period.

  Oscillator — period 3.

• pentadecathlon

  10×3 · population 12

  A period-15 oscillator that stretches and pinches along its long axis.

  Oscillator — period 15.

Spaceships

• glider

  3×3 · population 5

  The smallest spaceship: five cells that walk one square diagonally every four generations.

  Spaceship — period 4, moves (1, 1) per period.

• lwss

  5×4 · population 9

  Lightweight spaceship: nine cells travelling two squares orthogonally every four generations.

  Spaceship — period 4, moves (−2, 0) per period.

• mwss

  6×5 · population 11

  Middleweight spaceship: an LWSS with one extra bump, same speed.

  Spaceship — period 4, moves (−2, 0) per period.

• hwss

  7×5 · population 13

  Heavyweight spaceship: the largest of the three classic orthogonal ships.

  Spaceship — period 4, moves (−2, 0) per period.

Emitters (guns)

• gosper-glider-gun

  36×9 · population 36

  Two shuttles whose collision debris condenses into a new glider every 30 generations.

  Emitter — one glider (+5 cells) every 30 generations, checked over generations 600–1200.

• simkin-glider-gun

  33×21 · population 36

  A gun built from four blocks and two shuttles that fires one glider every 120 generations.

  Emitter — one glider (+5 cells) every 120 generations, checked over generations 600–1200.

Seeds (methuselahs)

• r-pentomino

  3×3 · population 5

  Five cells that churn for over a thousand generations before settling.

  Seed (unbounded grid) — stabilises at generation 1103, population 116; peak population 319 at generation 821.

• acorn

  7×3 · population 7

  Seven cells that take more than five thousand generations to settle.

  Seed (unbounded grid) — stabilises at generation 5206, population 633; peak population 1057 at generation 4408.

• diehard

  8×3 · population 7

  Seven cells that thrash for 130 generations and then vanish completely.

  Seed (unbounded grid) — dies out completely at generation 130; peak population 40.

• b-heptomino

  4×3 · population 7

  A seven-cell methuselah that settles quickly compared to its cousins.

  Seed (unbounded grid) — stabilises at generation 148, population 28; peak population 123 at generation 121.

• pi-heptomino

  3×3 · population 7

  A seven-cell methuselah with a longer, showier burn than the b-heptomino.

  Seed (unbounded grid) — stabilises at generation 173, population 55; peak population 201 at generation 115.