Computer scientist Jason Fantl tackles the challenge of creating cosmologically unique IDs that could work across the entire universe. The problem emerges as humanity expands beyond Earth - every ship, satellite, robot, and manufactured component needs identification for traffic control, maintenance, and supply chain management. At galactic scale, trillions of parts and devices require IDs that will never collide.

Random number generation offers the simplest solution, with UUIDs using 122 random bits providing a practical approach. Using the birthday paradox, Fantl calculates that even with 122-bit IDs, you'd need to generate around 2.6×1037 IDs before expecting a collision - far more than the atoms in the observable universe. For the truly paranoid, calculations show 798 bits would prevent collisions until the heat death of the universe, while 372 bits suffices for converting all universal mass into nanobots.

But random IDs aren't theoretically guaranteed to be unique. The article explores deterministic approaches, starting with a central counter system that assigns IDs logarithmically. This evolves into a distributed model where any device with an ID can assign new ones, creating hierarchical identifiers like `13.5` (satellite 13, device 5). The analysis provides practical guidance on random number generation, warning against pseudo-random generators and suggesting bans on common ID patterns like all-zeros or all-ones.