2023-03-30 15:20:22 <KipIngram   > Someone on Quora asked how many fundamental particles are in a cell.  I think they expected that to be a hard problem to work out, but I suggested 3.5*(cell mass)/(neutron mass) and explained why that makes sense - it's not a very complicated idea.
2023-03-30 15:20:47 <KipIngram   > That's a count of quarks and electrons.
2023-03-30 15:22:10 <thrig       > cells are 16-bit, though may vary in other implementations
2023-03-30 15:23:54 <KipIngram   > :-)
2023-03-30 15:24:13 <KipIngram   > That formula would work for any mass - not just cells.
2023-03-30 15:24:55 <KipIngram   > Doesn't include the gluons that hold the quarks together, but on the other hand when we count stuff in an atom we normally don't include the photons that hold the electrons in place, either.
2023-03-30 15:25:07 <KipIngram   > Matter particles only - not force mediation particles.
2023-03-30 15:26:31 <KipIngram   > It's approximate, because it assumes to things - first that the mass of a neutron is exactly the mass of a proton plus an electron, and that's not quite right (but it's within a hundredth of a percent or so) and second, it assumes that all atoms have matching numbers of protons and neutrons, which is also only approximately right.
2023-03-30 15:28:04 <KipIngram   > I'm sorry - a tenth of a percent, not a hundredth.
2023-03-30 15:28:17 <KipIngram   > neutron/(proton+electron) = 1.0008
2023-03-30 15:29:57 <thrig       > therefore there are 16 fundamental particles in a traditional cell
2023-03-30 15:31:00 <KipIngram   > I like your logic.  I should have told him that.
2023-03-30 15:31:14 <KipIngram   > A "bit" sounds like a great word for a fundamental particle to me.
2023-03-30 19:10:27 <KipIngram   > I'm responsible for dinner tonight.  I'm making Mediterranean Fish Soup, which feels a little daring - I've never done a fish soup before.  But my wife's on a healthy eating kick, and it feels like it will at least check that box.
2023-03-30 19:10:47 <KipIngram   > Plus it's a slow cooker dish, so the labor quotient wasn't too bad.
2023-03-30 19:11:23 <KipIngram   > It's got tomatoes and tomato sauce in it, and she's a fan of that kind of thing, so hopefully I'll score on flavor as well.
2023-03-30 19:11:49 <KipIngram   > I just have to dump the fish and shrimp in in 20 minutes or so and let it cook a little longer.
2023-03-30 21:33:42 <thrig       > if you use z80s would that be fish and chips