MovieChat Forums > The Thing (2011) Discussion > So there are 46 "steps" to full assimila...

So there are 46 "steps" to full assimilation - how long does it take?


With the exception of the last "step" it's basically a 1:1 conversion but I'm wondering what people think the total time is for somebody to get copied by the alien cells? In the 2011 remake there's a microscopic scene and it looks like it's pretty fast!

So my GENEROUS guess (assuming 100 trillion cells in a human body, beginning with only 1 corrupt cell) is about 5 minutes - about six and a half seconds per "step", with each step as follows:

1 - One cell copies/takes over another one cell.

2 - Two cells copy/take over another two cells.

3 - Four cells copy/take over another four cells.

4 - Eight cells copy/take over another eight cells.

5 - Sixteen cells copy/take over another sixteen cells.

6 - Thirty-two cells copy/take over another thirty-two cells.

7 - Sixty-four cells copy/take over another sixty-four cells.

8 - One hundred twenty-eight cells copy/take over one hundred twenty-eight cells.

9 - Two hundred fifty-six cells copy/take over another two hundred fifty-six cells.

10 - Five hundred twelve cells copy/take over another five hundred twelve cells.

11 - One thousand twenty-four cells copy/take over another one thousand twenty-four cells.

12 - Two thousand forty-eight cells copy/take over another two thousand forty-eight cells.

13 - Four thousand ninety-six cells copy/take over another four thousand ninety-six cells.

14 - Eight thousand one hundred ninety-two cells copy/take over another eight thousand one hundred ninety-two cells.

15 - Sixteen thousand three hundred eighty-four cells copy/take over another sixteen thousand three hundred eighty-four cells.

16 - Thirty-two thousand seven hundred sixty-eight cells copy/take over another thirty-two thousand seven hundred sixty-eight cells.

17 - Sixty-five thousand five hundred thirty-six cells copy/take over another sixty-five thousand five-hundred thirty-six cells.

18 - One hundred thirty-one thousand seventy-two cells copy/take over another one hundred thirty-one thousand seventy-two cells.

19 - Two hundred sixty-two thousand one hundred forty-four cells copy/take over another two hundred sixty-two thousand one hundred forty-four cells.

20 - Five hundred twenty-four thousand two hundred eighty-eight cells copy/take over another five hundred twenty-four thousand two hundred eighty-eight cells.

21 - One million forty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-six cells copy/take over another one million forty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-six cells.

22 - Two million ninety-seven thousand one hundred fifty-two cells copy/take over another two million ninety-seven thousand one hundred fifty-two cells.

23 - Four million one hundred ninety-four thousand three hundred four cells copy/take over another four million one hundred ninety-four thousand three hundred four cells.

24 - Eight million three hundred eighty-eight thousand six hundred eight cells copy/take over another eight million three hundred eighty-eight thousand six hundred eight cells.

25 - Sixteen million seven hundred seventy-seven thousand two hundred sixteen cells copy/take over another sixteen million seven hundred seventy-seven thousand two hundred sixteen cells.

26 - Thirty-three million five hundred fifty-four thousand four hundred thirty-two cells copy/take over another thirty-three million five hundred fifty-four thousand four hundred thirty-two cells.

27 - Sixty-seven million one hundred eight thousand eight hundred sixty-four cells copy/take over another sixty-seven million one hundred eight thousand eight hundred sixty-four cells.

28 - One hundred thirty-four million two hundred seventeen thousand seven hundred twenty-eight cells copy/take over another one hundred thirty-four million two hundred seventeen thousand seven hundred twenty-eight cells.

29 - Two hundred sixty-eight million four hundred thirty-five thousand four hundred fifty-six cells copy/take over another two hundred sixty-eight million four hundred thirty-five thousand four hundred fifty-six cells.

30 - Five hundred thirty-six million eight hundred seventy thousand nine hundred twelve cells copy/take over another five hundred thirty-six million eight hundred seventy thousand nine hundred twelve cells.

31 - One billion seventy-three million seven hundred forty-one thousand eight hundred twenty-four cells copy/take over another one billion seventy-three million seven hundred forty-one thousand eight hundred twenty-four cells.

32 - Two billion one hundred forty-seven million four hundred eighty-three thousand six hundred forty-eight cells copy/take over another two billion one hundred forty-seven million four hundred eighty-three thousand six hundred forty-eight cells.

33 - Four billion two hundred ninety-four million nine hundred sixty-seven thousand two hundred ninety-six cells copy/take over another four billion two hundred ninety-four million nine hundred sixty-seven thousand two hundred ninety-six cells.

34 - Eight billion five hundred eighty-nine thousand nine hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred ninety-two cells copy/take over another eight billion five hundred eighty-nine thousand nine hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred ninety-two cells.

35 - Seventeen billion one hundred seventy-nine million eight hundred sixty-nine thousand one hundred eighty-four cells copy/take over another seventeen billion one hundred seventy-nine million eight hundred sixty-nine thousand one hundred eighty-four cells.

36 - Thirty-four billion three hundred fifty-nine million seven hundred thirty-eight thousand three hundred sixty-eight cells copy/take over another thirty-four billion three hundred fifty-nine million seven hundred thirty-eight thousand three hundred sixty-eight cells.

37 - Sixty-eight billion seven hundred nineteen million four hundred seventy-six thousand seven hundred thirty-six cells copy/take over another sixty-eight billion seven hundred nineteen million four hundred seventy-six thousand seven hundred thirty-six cells.

38 - One hundred thirty-seven billion four hundred thirty-eight million nine hundred fifty-three thousand four hundred seventy-two cells copy/take over another one hundred thirty-seven billion four hundred thirty-eight million nine hundred fifty-three thousand four hundred seventy-two cells.

39 - Two hundred seventy-four billion eight hundred seventy-seven million nine hundred six thousand nine hundred forty-four cells copy/take over another two hundred seventy-four billion eight hundred seventy-seven million nine hundred six thousand nine hundred forty-four cells.

40 - Five hundred forty-nine billion seven hundred fifty-five million eight-hundred thirteen thousand eight hundred eighty-eight cells copy/take over another five hundred forty-nine billion seven hundred fifty-five million eight-hundred thirteen thousand eight hundred eighty-eight cells.

41 - One trillion ninety-nine billion five hundred eleven million six hundred twenty-seven thousand seven hundred seventy-six cells copy/take over another one trillion ninety-nine billion five hundred eleven million six hundred twenty-seven thousand seven hundred seventy-six cells.

42 - Four trillion three hundred ninety-eight billion forty-six million five hundred eleven thousand one hundred four cells copy/take over another four trillion three hundred ninety-eight billion forty-six million five hundred eleven thousand one hundred four cells.

43 - Eight trillion seven hundred ninety-six billion ninety-three million twenty-two thousand two hundred eight cells copy/take over another eight trillion seven hundred ninety-six billion ninety-three million twenty-two thousand two hundred eight cells.

44 - Seventeen trillion five hundred ninety-two billion one hundred eighty-six million forty-four thousand four hundred sixteen cells copy/take over another seventeen trillion five hundred ninety-two billion one hundred eighty-six million forty-four thousand four hundred sixteen cells.

45 - Thirty-five trillion one hundred eighty-four billion three hundred seventy-two million eighty-eight thousand eight hundred thirty-two cells copy/take over another thirty-five trillion one hundred eighty-four billion three hundred seventy-two million eighty-eight thousand eight hundred thirty-two cells.

And finally...

46 - Twenty-nine trillion six hundred thirty-one billion two hundred fifty-five million eight hundred twenty-two thousand three hundred thirty-six of the previously iterated seventy trillion three hundred sixty-eight billion seven hundred forty-four million one hundred seventy-seven thousand six hundred sixty-four cells copy/take over the remaining twenty-nine trillion six hundred thirty-one billion two hundred fifty-five million eight hundred twenty-two thousand three hundred thirty-six cells.


Take The Challenge: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410591/board/threads/

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Yep. I get the same. Your working out's good.

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Or you can do it like this:

Assuming that 1 cell becomes 2, 2 cells become 4 etc. That means that it's a power of 2, we just need to find out what the exponent is in order to find out the number of steps:

2^x = 100 trillion = 10^14
log(2)x = log(10^14)


log(10^14) is obviously 14 (for log in base 10)

x = 14 / log(2)

Calculate for x:

x = 46,506993..

If each step takes 6,5 seconds, its:

6,5x sec = 302,2954.. sec

Which turns out to be around:

5 minutes and 2,3 seconds for complete assimilation of something with 10^14 number of cells.

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Thank you! It is good to see a second approach yielding a similar answer.



Take The Challenge: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410591/board/threads/

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