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I finished my estimate on required compute to make an atomic-resolution virtual cell: 10^38 FLOPs to simulate a human cell for 1 day. We should be able to do this simulation in 2074 using 200 TW of power. 1/3

Andrew White 🐦‍⬛

@andrew.diffuse.one

26 Sept 2025

It sounds insane, but remember there are 10^14 atoms in a human cell and 10^20 femtoseconds in a day. And across multiple simulation engines, it requires 10^4 FLOPs per atom x femtosecond 2/3

Andrew White 🐦‍⬛

@andrew.diffuse.one

So we probably won't be getting a direct simulation of a whole virtual cell at meaningful timescales any time soon. Oh, and it would require 20x current earth power generation. 3/3 Read the analysis/blog post here: diffuse.one/p/d1-009

diffuse.onediffuse.oneandrew white's blog.

26/9/25, 3:19 pm0 reposts3 likes

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