Numbers worth caring about—a list of important numbers
Table of Contents
It may be the case that myths, especially good geometry-based ones, express Real Truth. Relations of quantity, meanwhile, are surely really out there. Mathematical knowledge about things is real—two apples and two apples really does make four apples out there. Facts of magnitude are golden—thoroughly grasped by the subject, and really instantiated by the object(s).
So with that mighty introduction let me introduce … some numbers worth caring about.
I present them here in four domains of discourse. I can think of two—(1) the Totality or Urgrund (“all of reality all the way down”) and (2) the observable universe. Now we can ask two questions:
- What object quanta are certain to hold of the Totality—i.e., of the Urgrund, i.e., of all of reality all the way down.
- What object quanta are certain to hold of the observable universe?
- What time quanta are certain to hold of the observable universe?
- What object quanta are certain to hold of the human body?
1.
Totality numbers
In the TOTALITY (or Urgrund) there are —
- Aleph-null universes.
2.
Universe numbers
In the observable (local) universe there are …
- 11 (or 10, or 26) dimensions. A dimension is a way of variation in the position of particuloid matter (meaning wavicle-stuff—particulate matter plus physical energy-waves-smears, and plus the weird smears of probability, whatever that might even mean ontologically).
- 10 million superclusters. A super cluster is the largest group type for galaxies. Galaxies occur first in groups that are gravitationally bound with each other, called galaxy groups, that contain 50 or fewer members. Galaxy collections larger than groups (that are still first-order clusterings) are called galaxy clusters. Groups and clusters are also clustered, and these are superclusters.
- 200 billion – 2 trillion galaxies.
- 1024 stars.
- 1078 – 1082 atoms.
- The age of the Universe is 13.8 billion years.
- The diameter of the Universe is 93 Gly.
3.
Time numbers
- 13.772 billions years have passed since the Big Bang.
- The lower limit of electron lifespan: 6.6 x 1028 years (66,000 yottayears).
- The half-lifespan of a proton: at least 1034 – 1035 years.
4.
Speed of light for Americans
Finally, a units that we can really grasp, that is, emulate in imaginary and rescaled motion. Actually, we can schematize distance really well. We can imagine walking there, with a full and thick first person “reliving”-type “hypnotic” immersive imagining, and then just speed this up in same way the we speed through “… in an hour” in our heads when we grasp that phrase’s sense.
And here it is!
The speed of light is 327.85 YARDS per MICROSECOND.
What’s that? You can’t really grok microseconds? Too small?
Then try this:
Light, in one MILLISECOND, flies a distance of 186.28 MILES—or half the distance from LA to San Francisco. (That helps! If you could shuttle run between LA and San Francisco 500 times in one second, you’d be a light person.)
You can get this one if you’ve driven non-stop. 186 miles is you, driving, listening to the radio and thinking, planing, fantasizing, remembering, worrying, etc. for three hours. And your speed is the normal 60 mph. (And you schematize that by the intensity of your attention: the faster the more fear the harder the vigilance.)
5.
Biological numbers
Body (human)
- 1014 atoms in the average cell
- 37.2 trillion self cells in the human body
- 38 trillion bacterial cells in the human body
- 7 x 1027 atoms in the average (70 kg) human
Brain (human)
- 86 billion neurons and 84 billion glial cells in human brain
- 280 cm3 grey plus white matter in the frontal cortex
- 69 billion neurons and 16 billion glial cells in cerebellum
- 16 billion neurons and 61 billion glial cells in cerebral cortex
- 3 x 1014 synapses (assuming 20,000 synapses per neuron) in cerebral cortex
- 700 million neurons and 7 billion glial cells in brain stem
- At least 1015 (1 quadrillion) synapses in the brain at its max (age three).
Brain fun facts
- Smallest brained mammal: lesser bamboo bat (0.074 g • body 4.8 g)
- Smallest brained mammal: Etruscan shrew (0.064 g • body 2 g)
- Largest brained mammal: sperm whale (10,000 g • body 200,000 kg)
- Largest brained land mammal: African elephant (6,000 g • body 7,500 kg)
- Smallest vertebrate brain-to-body mass ratio: bony-eared assfish
Species dominance by number and mass
Species | Population | Biomass (million tons) |
---|---|---|
Bacteria total | 4 quadrillion quadrillion | 1,000,000 |
Ants (many species) | 10 billion billion | 3,000 |
Marine fish (many species) | 800-2,000 | |
Cattle (Bos taurus) | 1.4 billion | 520 |
Termites (many species) | 445 | |
Humans (Homo sapiens) | 7 billion | 350 |
Antarctic krill (Euphausia suberba) | 500 trillion | 150 |
Sheep (Ovis aries) | 1.1 billion | 65 |
Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) | 18.6 billion | 40 |
Great whales (10 species) | 3 million | 20 |
Elephants (2 species) | 0.5 million | 2 |
Humanity’s top crops
Crop | Type | global value | global production | top producer & value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rice, paddy | Cereals | $337 | 740,961,445 | $117 (Mainland China) 2016 data |
Cattle, meat | Livestock | $336 | 65,973,820 | $53 (United States) 2016 data |
Pig, meat | Livestock | $306 | 118,168,709 | $167 (Mainland China) 2016 data |
Cow’s milk, whole, fresh | Livestock Primary | $286 | 659,150,049 | $35 (United States) 2016 data |
Chicken, meat | Livestock | $128 | 90,001,779 | $24.4 (United States) |
Wheat | Cereals | $84 | 701,395,334 | $13.7 (Mainland China) |
Soybeans | $65 | 262,037,569 | $21.8 (United States) | |
Tomatoes | Vegetables | $58 | 159,347,031 | $17.9 (Mainland China) |
Sugarcane | $57 | 1,800,377,642 | $23.9 (Brazil) | |
Maize (Corn) | Cereals | $55 | 885,289,935 | $26.4 (United States) |
Eggs, in shell | Livestock Primary | $54 | 65,181,280 | $19.8 (Mainland China) |
Potatoes | Roots and Tubers | $50 | 373,158,351 | $12.6 (Mainland China) |
Vegetables, not elsewhere specified | Vegetables | $46 | 268,833,780 | $25.3 (Mainland China) |
Grapes | Fruit | $39 | 69,093,293 | $5.2 (Mainland China) |
Water Buffalo milk | Livestock Primary | $38 | 95,888,113 | $26.0 (India) |
Cotton, lint | Fibre crops | $37 | 26,143,049 | $9.4 (Mainland China) |
Apples | Fruit | $32 | 75,484,671 | $15.2 (Mainland China) |
Bananas | Fruit | $29 | 107,142,187 | $8.4 (India) |
Cassava (yuca) | Roots and Tubers | $25 | 256,404,044 | $5.5 (Nigeria) |
Mangos, Mangosteens, Guavas | Fruit | $23 | 38,953,166 | $9.1 (India) |
Sheep, meat | Livestock | $22 | 8,229,068 | $5.6 (Mainland China) |
Coffee | $22 | 8,034,000 | $10.0 (Brazil) | |
Palm oil | Oilcrops | $20 | 47,703,805 | $9.3 (Indonesia) |
Onions, dry | Vegetables | $18 | 86,343,822 | $5.2 (Mainland China) |
Beans, dry and green | Pulses | $17 | $6.2 (Mainland China) | |
Peanuts, in shell | $17 | 40,016,584 | $7.0 (Mainland China) | |
Olives | Oilcrops | $16 | 20,545,421 | $6.3 (Spain) |
Rapeseed | $15 | $3.9 (Canada) | ||
Almonds, in shell | Treenuts | $15 | 3,214,303 | $12.3 (United States) 2016 data |
Walnuts, with shell | Treenuts | $14 | 3,747,549 | $7.7 (Mainland China) 2016 data |
Chilis and peppers, green and dry | $13 | $7.5 (Mainland China) | ||
Rubber | Tree crops | $13 | $3.8 (Thailand) | |
Tea | $12 | 4,520,000 | $4.1 (Mainland China) | |
Oranges | Fruit | $12 | $3.8 (Brazil) | |
Cucumbers | Vegetables | $12 | $9.1 (Mainland China) | |
Yams | Roots and Tubers | $12 | $7.6 (Nigeria) | |
Peaches, nectarines | Fruit | $11 | $6.3 (Mainland China) | |
Lettuce, Chicory | Vegetables | $11 | $6.3 (Mainland China) | |
Cacao (Chocolate) | $10 | 4,082,000 | $3.1 (Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)) | |
Goat, meat | Livestock | $10 | $4.5 (Mainland China) | |
Sunflower seed | Oilcrops | $10 | $2.5 (Russia) | |
Sugar beets | Vegetables | $10 | $1.6 (France) | |
Watermelons | Fruit | $10 | $7.4 (Mainland China) | |
Buffalo, meat | Livestock | $9 | $4.0 (India) | |
Asparagus | Vegetables | $7 | $6.6 (Mainland China) | |
Turkey, meat | Livestock | $7 | $3.4 (United States) | |
Carrots, Turnips | Vegetables | $7 | $3.9 (Mainland China) | |
Duck, meat | Livestock | $7 | $4.6 (Mainland China) | |
Coconuts | Treenuts | $6 | $1.9 (India) |
Glossary
- Pulses — Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family. Pulses grow in pods and come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognizes 11 types of pulses: dry beans, dry broad beans, dry peas, chickpeas, cow peas, pigeon peas, lentils, Bambara beans, vetches, lupins and pulses nes (not elsewhere specified – minor pulses that don’t fall into one of the other categories).
6.
Food numbers
Crop | Type | Global value in $B |
---|---|---|
Rice, paddy | Cereals | $337 |
Cattle, meat | Livestock | $336 |
Pig, meat | Livestock | $306 |
Cow’s milk | Livestock Primary | $286 |
Chicken, meat | Livestock | $128 |
Wheat | Cereals | $84 |
Soybeans | $65 | |
Tomatoes | Vegetables | $58 |
Sugarcane | $57 | |
Maize (Corn) | Cereals | $55 |
Eggs, in shell | Livestock Primary | $54 |
Potatoes | Roots and Tubers | $50 |