Amazing fact...

[imamartian]

i was reading one of the kids' "amazing fact" books the other day... (gotta keep up with you lot somehow !! )... and it said the human brain had more electrical connections (neural things) than there are atoms in the universe...

I find that slightly unbelievable somehow !!

A quick google:
There are around approximately 40 trillion cells in the human body. There are approximately 7*10^27 atoms in the human body. That's 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms.


atoms are so much smaller than neurons, and even if many neurons in a neural network are 'connecting' with many other neurons, then surely
there aren't mathematically, as many permutations as there are atoms in our body, let alone the universe !!!!!!

Where's cant when you need him?

 

[Gasman28]

Where's cant when you need him?

He's either having a drink with his MP or reading kids books about Atoms

 

[libby lou lou]

Some people on here then would say you don't many neurons.

Would you find that also slighly unbelievable?

 

[imamartian]

Some people on here then would say you don't many neurons.

Would you find that also slighly unbelievable?

i'd put the word "have" in there... does that mean i have more than you?

 

[imamartian]

but seriously, keep it clean Lib... eh? on topic and all that....

 

[Norcon]

Atoms are 99.99999999999999% empty space.
Or there abouts according to Professor Cox.

 

[libby lou lou]

Some people on here then would say you don't many neurons.

Would you find that also slighly unbelievable?

i'd put the word "have" in there... does that mean i have more than you?

Yep, must of dropped a neuro somewhere along the line, i hope they still reproduce

 

[sooey]

i was reading one of the kids' "amazing fact" books the other day... (gotta keep up with you lot somehow !! )... and it said the human brain had more electrical connections (neural things) than there are atoms in the universe...

I find that slightly unbelievable somehow !!

A quick google:
There are around approximately 40 trillion cells in the human body. There are approximately 7*10^27 atoms in the human body. That's 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms.


atoms are so much smaller than neurons, and even if many neurons in a neural network are 'connecting' with many other neurons, then surely
there aren't mathematically, as many permutations as there are atoms in our body, let alone the universe !!!!!!

Where's cant when you need him?

What do you think neurons are made out of soft lad, I'll give you a clue.....the same things as everything else, ATOMS.

 

[imamartian]

Another gratuitous insult Sooey !!

But you missed my point.... and for clarities sake...

What i read stated "the brain had more connections than there are atoms in the universe". I know neurons are made of atoms (thanks), and i'm aware atoms are a lot smaller...what i can't understand is how neurons can make that many connections...

 

[MisterG]

i was reading one of the kids' "amazing fact" books the other day... and it said the human brain had more electrical connections (neural things) than there are atoms in the universe...

I find that slightly unbelievable somehow !!

Doesn't sound plausible, maybe it was a misprint and it should have read stars in the universe?

Having said that, the number of interconnections would be a very big number - according to Wikipedia, In a typical human the cerebral cortex (the largest part) is estimated to contain 15–33 billion neurons, each connected by synapses to several thousand other neurons. If in the book they were counting all the possible hops between neurons it probably a formula based on factorials on billions, which is a very big number!

 

[sooey]

Fair cop, I did miss your point.

By way of an apology I''ll tell you an even greater number.

It's called Grahams number and if you were to write it out in digits the size of a single atom you wouldn't have enough room in the observable universe to fit it all in one line.
THAT'S BIG.......but I know a bigger one.....Grahams number plus one.

 

[imamartian]

Fair cop, I did miss your point.

By way of an apology I''ll tell you an even greater number.

It's called Grahams number and if you were to write it out in digits the size of a single atom you wouldn't have enough room in the observable universe to fit it all in one line.
THAT'S BIG.......but I know a bigger one.....Grahams number plus one.

I appreciate the post Sooey.





Incidentally wikipedia says this about graham's number..." The last ten digits of Graham's number are ...2464195387." How the hell do they know that??

... and even more amazingly its my mobile phone number !!!!