RE: how many bytes make a human?

From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 12:52:37 MDT

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    > "The human body consists of ~7 x 10^27 atoms arranged in a highly
    > aperiodic physical structure"
    >
    > If we demand that each atom be located with a precision of 100 pm
    > (a bit less than most bond lengths) that means we can locate them
    > with integers between 1 and 10^10. That means 3*34 bits to get each
    > position (I doubt we need velocities), and 5 bits for atom type.
    > All in all, 7.49e29 bits. This is actually far more than than Egan's
    > exabyte (by a factor of 8.12e10), but I guess that is because there
    > is no packing of the data.

    For my goals, I don't care about most of my internal structures. A generic
    young male body internally would be adequate, because I can't tell the
    difference. All I would want is exact brain contents and external
    appearance. Even external appearance doesn't have to be detailed or exact.
    I would gladly lose any scars, freckles, slight blemishes, uneven color,
    etc. It seems that this would greatly reduce the total amount of
    information.

    --
    Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, IAM, GSEC
    <www.HarveyNewstrom.com>
    


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