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A comment on 1D Conway's Life glider found, 3.7B cells long. Parent comment

Re:1D Conway's Life glider found, 3.7B cells long by syncsynchalt on Wednesday December 03, 2025 @03:15PM (#46139476)
By definition of a pure spaceship / glider, no it can't. If it emits persistent "exhaust" that's a "smoking ship"[0].

[0] https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Types_of_spaceships#Smoking_ship

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Re:1D Conway's Life glider found, 3.7B cells long by quuxplusone on Thursday December 04, 2025 @12:19AM (#46144055)
IIUC, "smoke" is ephemeral by definition. A spaceship/glider that leaves persistent "debris" in its wake is called a "puffer":

https://conwaylife.com/wiki/puffer

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Re:1D Conway's Life glider found, 3.7B cells long by HTHThreee on Thursday December 04, 2025 @11:09AM (#46149152)
Smoke refers to fairly long lived debris that eventually dies out, the term for one that leaves permanent debris is a puffer.
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