methuselah meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

methuselah

nounalso spelled Methuselah

A large wine bottle with the capacity of about 6 liters, equivalent to 8 standard bottles.

Cellular automata, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A small pattern that takes many generations to stabilize.

The first known methuselah was the r pentomino, but even longer lasting ones have been found by enumerating and testing small patterns. The following, called "rabbits," takes over 10000 generations to stabilize.1996 December 16, Paul Callahan, “Need help in finding topic for research project”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
Is there somewhere a list of n-cell methuselah patterns in Conway's Life? (assuming some reasonable limits on the bounding box)2003 February 24, Michael Hedera, “Methuselahs in Conway's Life”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

1 more example

The pattern below seems to take about 30000 generations to stabilize. The initial population is 20. Is this methuselah a known one?2008 June 29, Andrzej Megier, “Game of life methuselah?”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

Methuselah

noun

Etymology From Biblical Hebrew מְתוּשֶׁלַח (Məṯûšelaḥ), also spelled מְתוּשָׁלַח (Məṯûšālaḥ). The planet's name stems from the fact that, at the time of its discovery in 2003, it was the oldest known planet.

Broadly Any person or thing that has lived to a very old age.

Alternative Alternative spelling of methuselah (“large wine bottle”).