# Turing Machines and Conway's Dreams

DevFeed: [Turing Machines and Conway's Dreams](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/turing-machines-and-conway-s-dreams-40215.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.jeremykun.com/2011/06/30/turing-machines-and-conways-dreams/>)

Published: 2011-06-30T20:50:04Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Jeremy Kun](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jeremy-kun.md>)

Topics: [Automaton](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/automaton.md>)

Tags: [cellular](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cellular.md>), [cellular-automata](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cellular-automata.md>), [computability-theory](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/computability-theory.md>), [computational-complexity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/computational-complexity.md>), [conway](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/conway.md>), [infinite](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/infinite.md>), [life](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/life.md>), [mathematics](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mathematics.md>), [patterns](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/patterns.md>), [period](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/period.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [recursion](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/recursion.md>), [theory](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/theory.md>), [turing-machine](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/turing-machine.md>), [turing-machines](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/turing-machines.md>)

## AI overview

The article examines Conway's Game of Life patterns that do not stabilize, including Gosper's glider gun and puffers that produce continuing activity. It connects these patterns to computability, explaining that infinite looping is necessary for Turing-complete computation.

## Source excerpt

Additional Patterns Last time we left the reader with the assertion that Conway's game of life does not always stabilize. Specifically, there exist patterns which result in unbounded cell population growth. Although John Conway's original conjecture was that all patterns eventually stabilize (and offered $50 to anyone who could provide a proof or counterexample), he was proven wrong. Here we have the appropriately named glider gun, whose main body oscillates, expelling a glider once per period.