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First Self-Replicating Creature Spawned In Conway's Game of Life
Calopteryx writes "New Scientist has a story on a self-replicating entity which inhabits the mathematical universe known as the Game of Life. 'Dubbed Gemini, [Andrew Wade's] creature is made of two sets of identical structures, which sit at either end of the instruction tape. Each is a fraction of the size of the tape's length but, made up of two constructor arms and one "destructor," play a key role. Gemini's initial state contains three of these structures, plus a fourth that is incomplete. As the simulation progresses the incomplete structure begins to grow, while the structure at the start of the tape is demolished. The original Gemini continues to disassemble as the new one emerges, until after nearly 34 million generations, new life is born.'"
...or is it, in fact, The Schizoid Man?
Wait a bit. the program wont take over until we discover forms that create ASCII-style pron, and then the multitudes will download it, and someone will sneak mutation factors into the multiple copies running, and one version will cross from the computer into the real world (probably with sparks flying from the computer, or even animated electrical zigzags), and walk around growling and chasing damsels. just hope bruce willis is around to stop it with a catchphrase like "eat hot divisions by zero, bithead"