x-y-t Life

Here is a photo of the first 13 generations of the evolution of the “R” pentomino pattern in John Conway’s Game of Life. Each layer represents one generation, and time proceeds downwards. In each layer, live cells are represented by boxes. The color of the box indicates how many generations that cell has been alive: yellow for one, orange for two, and blue for three or more. These “Life sculptures” were built by middle-school students at The College of New Jersey in 2019 July.

(If these boxes look familiar, you’re right – they are the same ones from the Boxtahedral Tower reused for a completely different construction.)