Editing 2283: Exa-Exabyte
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According to [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html a 2015 article] by ''The New York Times'', researchers estimate that there are about 5 * 10<sup>37</sup> DNA {{w|base pair}}s on Earth (50 trillion trillion trillion). So [[Miss Lenhart]]'s claim of 10 exa-exabytes—1 * 10<sup>37</sup> bytes is a reasonable approximation ({{w|Fermi estimation}}). (The estimate was 5 plus or minus 4 * 10<sup>37</sup>. There are 4 possible base pairs, or 2 bits per pair, a byte is 8 bits.) | According to [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html a 2015 article] by ''The New York Times'', researchers estimate that there are about 5 * 10<sup>37</sup> DNA {{w|base pair}}s on Earth (50 trillion trillion trillion). So [[Miss Lenhart]]'s claim of 10 exa-exabytes—1 * 10<sup>37</sup> bytes is a reasonable approximation ({{w|Fermi estimation}}). (The estimate was 5 plus or minus 4 * 10<sup>37</sup>. There are 4 possible base pairs, or 2 bits per pair, a byte is 8 bits.) | ||
− | These numbers are larger than most people can imagine. Even much smaller numbers such as a billion (10<sup>9</sup>) or a trillion (10<sup>12</sup>) are | + | These numbers are larger than most people can imagine. Even much smaller numbers such as a billion (10<sup>9</sup>) or a trillion (10<sup>12</sup>) are hard to imagine.{{Citation needed}} For instance: |
* 1 billion seconds is equal to 31.7 years; 1 trillion seconds is equal to 31,688.74 years. | * 1 billion seconds is equal to 31.7 years; 1 trillion seconds is equal to 31,688.74 years. | ||
* [https://medium.com/@alecmuffett/a-billion-grains-of-rice-91202220e10e 1 billion grains of rice] weigh approximately 34,447 lb (15,625 kg). | * [https://medium.com/@alecmuffett/a-billion-grains-of-rice-91202220e10e 1 billion grains of rice] weigh approximately 34,447 lb (15,625 kg). |