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by sherincall 2068 days ago
The estimated number of atoms on earth is on the order of 1e50, which is 60 bits. If you take the 4 bits out of the 64bit address for tagging, you can still address individual atoms.

EDIT: My math is bad, see comments below.

I can unsarcastically say that no one will ever need full 64bit addresses on this planet.

2 comments

2^66 bits - estimated storage space at Google data warehouse as of 2013 [0]

2^71 bits - total hard drive capacity shipped in 2016 [0]

I doubt your calculations.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(data)

Yes, you're totally right, my math is way off.
10^50 is definitely not 60 bits: log_2(10^50) = 50 * log_2(10), and log_2(10) > 3