What to watch
- No phase change occurs after stepping.
- The asymmetric shape is still perfectly balanced by neighbor counts.
- It is common ash after messy reactions settle.
Still lifes
Loaf
A seven-cell still life with a lopsided outline.
The loaf is a stable object with lower symmetry than the beehive. It is a good reminder that Life stability is local, not visual.
- Category
- Still lifes
- Period
- 1
- Movement
- bounded
- Population
- 7 cells
- Bounding box
- 4 x 4
- Known since
- 1970
How to use it
Use it to contrast visual symmetry with rule-based stability.
Open the pattern in the lab, reduce the speed, and use single-step mode when a phase change is hard to see. The green preview marks births in the next generation; red outlines mark live cells that will die.