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6 trillion * number of configurations of each cell * number of configurations of interactions between cells = (very very large) finite number. The thing about numbers is that they go on forever. There's not a cutoff for "ok, this number is too big for bits".

Take whatever that mind-bogglingly huge number is, take the logarithm base 2, there you go, that's how many bits you need.

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Yes no problem to imagine or process numbers, how big they might be.

I just don’t see how that makes a practical sense in the context of the article. Doing a full "scan" of a tiny biological material to study it, ok. Doing a full scan of "our body" as MrMcCall describe (and reject it)? I don’t think it’s possible in a near future. I totally agree with Asraelite in theory but don’t think that will be apply in reality.

I think I see the disconnect. "Practical application" here does not mean "doing a scan". Don't let the word "bit" lure you into thinking we want to do something on a computer. This is using bits purely as a unit of measurement of information quantity. It applies practically in reality the same way any other unit of measurement applies. The same way we can ask how much something weighs or how fast it's going, we can ask how much information it has.

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