Temporal retention of information as a biosignature

Previous publications by the authors put forward the argument that Lifelike Cellular Automata (LCAs) can be treated as a bona fide example of livingness in and of themselves, not simply a toy analogue to biological life. Traits known to be indicative of biological life – biosignatures – were identified in informational form as particular outlier traits of the ruleset for the LCA known as Conway’s Game of Life (CGOL). This publication reverses that logic, looking at a known outlier trait of CGOL – its very long-lasting evolutions – and using this to point towards temporal retention as an informational biosignature concept.