Ask HN: How many man-made objects are there?

by eimrineon 5/27/2025, 12:41 PMwith 1 comments

Is it possible for humanity to produce 2^256 distinct pieces of anything material? Microplastic is OK to be counted.

by mtmailon 5/27/2025, 12:46 PM

That's 10^77. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_number estimates 10^80 protons in the universe. I think humanity would run out of source material.