6 ms·

TFA says "...a total of 1.8x10¹² cells. That is, almost two billion (1.8 billion) cells." Isn't 10¹² a trillion?

two_handfuls 3y ago
You are correct, it looks like the author used the old British billion (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion). Those are supposedly out of use now. Goes to show, one advantage of the mathematical notation is that it is closer to universal.
- elteto 3y ago
  Not quite out of use: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales#Current_usage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales#Curren... Spain, a large portion of Europe, and many Latin American countries use it.
  - two_handfuls 3y ago
    Aha, that explains it! Maybe the author lives there.
    - elteto 3y ago
      It's from El Pais ;)
- markhahn 3y ago
  Yet our cultures seem resistant to usage like "1.8 teracells". Is it too nerdy? Would it be more palatable to normies if each prefix had a cardinality suffix ("teraion" is not great...)
GranPC 3y ago
This might be a translation mishap. The Spanish word "billón" translates to "trillion", and the English word "billion" actually translates to "mil millones" (a thousand million). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion
- ddawson 3y ago
  So, a metric billion?
  - kosievdmerwe 3y ago
    As another comment says: Long and short scale. It depends on language more than metric/imperial.
karmakaze 3y ago
It would also be more informative to me to to see as percentage of cells as I don't have a sense of the scale of the cells-in-the-body.
- bartvk 3y ago
  Or maybe a relative scale. 1.8T cells dedicated to defending, compared to X cells dedicated to defecating, or Y cells dedicated to digesting. All joking aside, National Geographic says there's about 37 trillion cells in a 70 kg (154 pounds) human body. So that'd mean 5% of those are dedicated to defending. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-many-cells-are-in-your-body https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-many-...
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- jodrellblank 3y ago
  The article opens with that: "For the first time, a study has measured the size of the immune system: if it were an organ, it would weigh more than a kilo and represents 0.2% of all human cells"

You are correct, it looks like the author used the old British billion (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion). Those are supposedly out of use now. Goes to show, one advantage of the mathematical notation is that it is closer to universal.

elteto 3y ago
Not quite out of use: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales#Current_usage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales#Curren... Spain, a large portion of Europe, and many Latin American countries use it.
- two_handfuls 3y ago
  Aha, that explains it! Maybe the author lives there.
  - elteto 3y ago
    It's from El Pais ;)
markhahn 3y ago
Yet our cultures seem resistant to usage like "1.8 teracells". Is it too nerdy? Would it be more palatable to normies if each prefix had a cardinality suffix ("teraion" is not great...)

GranPC 3y ago

This might be a translation mishap. The Spanish word "billón" translates to "trillion", and the English word "billion" actually translates to "mil millones" (a thousand million). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion

ddawson 3y ago
So, a metric billion?
- kosievdmerwe 3y ago
  As another comment says: Long and short scale. It depends on language more than metric/imperial.

karmakaze 3y ago

It would also be more informative to me to to see as percentage of cells as I don't have a sense of the scale of the cells-in-the-body.

bartvk 3y ago
Or maybe a relative scale. 1.8T cells dedicated to defending, compared to X cells dedicated to defecating, or Y cells dedicated to digesting. All joking aside, National Geographic says there's about 37 trillion cells in a 70 kg (154 pounds) human body. So that'd mean 5% of those are dedicated to defending. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-many-cells-are-in-your-body https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-many-...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
jodrellblank 3y ago
The article opens with that: "For the first time, a study has measured the size of the immune system: if it were an organ, it would weigh more than a kilo and represents 0.2% of all human cells"