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The smaller patterns above have all stopped growing after this number of steps, but many of the other patterns apparently go on growing forever.
Or is it in fact common in all sorts of simple programs?
One simple strategy for assigning codewords is to number all distinct blocks in order of decreasing frequency, and then just to use the resulting numbers—given, say, in one of the representations discussed above—as the codewords.
The two-dimensional pointer-based encoding scheme from page 571 does however manage to recognize the structure in all cases.
Such a mobile automaton must then itself be universal, since the universal cellular automaton that it emulates can in turn emulate a wide range of other systems, including all possible mobile automata.
But in all these three examples, the overall behavior is essentially repetitive.
Components for technology The Principle of Computational Equivalence suggests that a vast range of systems in nature can all ultimately be used to make computers.
And in all cases black cells appear only in blocks that are an odd number of cells wide.
But in all other cases, the sequence does not repeat, and in fact it is known that a uniform distribution of values is obtained.
Quantum randomness It is usually assumed that even if all else fails a quantum process such as radioactive decay will yield perfect randomness.
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