[OT] End-user uses for x86-64

[Dan Jenkins]

Jon 'maddog' Hall wrote:

>  I think I read someplace that 128 bits would allow you to address
>  every Proton and neutron in the known universe, but I doubt that (a
>  little).

A quick Google search yielded "10^72 up to 10^87" for range of number of 
particles in the universe.
(No idea if that particle count includes only protons and neutrons, or 
if other wee beasties are included too.)

2^128 = 3.4 x 10^38. So 128 bits would be about 48 orders of magnitude 
too small.

You would need a 240-bit to 289-bit address space to address every 
particle in the universe.

As the words of the song 
(http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/eternal-flame.html) go:

> And the Lord could not count grains of sand with a 32-bit word.

But a 256-bit word might be enough for everything else.
-- 
Dan Jenkins (dan at rastech.com)
Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-206-9951
*** Technical Support Excellence for over a Quarter Century