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What is a Cellular Automaton?

stephenwolfram.com · 277 words · saved by 1 readers

Stephen Wolfram's visual explanation of cellular automata. Accompanies Daily Telegraph article 'The Universe in Black and White.

Part of: “The Universe in Black and White,” by Graham Farmelo, The Daily Telegraph, January 13, 1999. In a chess-board cellular automaton, a simple set of rules determines how the pattern of squares on one horizontal row is related to the pattern on the row below. An example is the very simple cellular automaton below. The simple set of rules below ensure that the pattern builds a single black square (step 1) to an expanding pyramid shape. The set of rules comprise eight separate rules, each of which dictates how a sequence of three squares in a row determines whether the square in the…

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