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The Instability Challenge

Now it's your turn. Here's a challenge.

The R Pentomino (two pages back) roiled and boiled for hundreds of generations before settling down. Can you construct a starting state that lasts even longer?

Remember: To turn squares on and off, all you need to do is click on them. Later, you can click the Setup button to restore the last pattern you created.





Try making straight lines, crosses, geometric shapes, clusters, blobs, or anything else you can think of. Starting positions that are very similar to one another might lead to very different results. For example, start with a line 10 squares long, then try again with one extra square added directly above or below the line.


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Mitchel Resnick and Brian Silverman
Epistemology and Learning Group
MIT Media Laboratory

Last modified: 2/4/96