5 ms·

The universe is a very big place

90 points by erikstarck 17y ago

lutorm 17y ago
That's pretty cool. It reminds me of an old movie about orders of magnitude and scale that just went through factors of 10 in constant time from a person out to the observable universe. It's weird how there are vast scales where there's nothing.
- phren0logy 17y ago
  You mean Charles and Ray Eames' "Powers of 10": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z53wTtGGA0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z53wTtGGA0
  - lutorm 17y ago
    That's the one.
- shrikant 17y ago
  I would imagine vast scales of nothing are 'easier' (in the cosmis sense) to accomplish and maintain. Humongulous amounts of something leads to complications.
phren0logy 17y ago
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." --Douglas Adams
- petesalty 17y ago
  Not to nit-pick but I believe it's "I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space". "Drug store" is a decidedly American phrase.
  - phren0logy 17y ago
    You are right; fixed it. Thanks!
  - ZeroGravitas 17y ago
    When books get released in other countries they go through and change many of these locale specific things, at least they do when it's going UK -> US, I think it's less common the other way because we're already so exposed to their culture.
moe 17y ago
In fact I think you will find that the universe covers pretty much everything; http://getonmyhorse.com http://getonmyhorse.com
- bd 17y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse :)
superted 17y ago
A pretty mind boggling video on the same theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U
- mortenjorck 17y ago
  It's interesting to me how dramatic music always tends to accompany this subject. Whether you prefer the religious or secular variety, I think it's safe to say there's something universally spiritual about visualizing the universe. A thought which pretty much begs a link to Symphony of Science: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk
josh33 17y ago
I'd love to show this to some narcissists I know. But then again, they might think it is revolving around them rather than humbling.
Groxx 17y ago
"Powers of 10" sliders like this are kinda fun. This is easily one of the better ones I've seen (though it's really a "Powers of 1000"). Just wish it had a smoother way to zoom, the slider is a bit jumpy when it's small.
- merraksh 17y ago
  Try the arrow keys.
  - Groxx 17y ago
    * smack * duh. Should've read the author's comments, eh? My mistake. I was assuming the circles on the end would perform the same action, but guess not. Thanks for pointing it out ^^;
jessriedel 17y ago
This managed to nail all the BS pseudo physics that drives physicists crazy to hear repeated.
- paulbaumgart 17y ago
  Please set them straight! :-)
Raphael 17y ago
Direct link: http://uploads.ungrounded.net/525000/525347_scale_of_universe_ng.swf http://uploads.ungrounded.net/525000/525347_scale_of_univers...
guns 17y ago
Here's another visualization. It overlays the objects on a grid, which explicitly sets the sense of scale. http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/index_f.htm http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/index_f.htm
mleonhard 17y ago
Also good: Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M&feature=fvw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M&feature=fvw
shrikant 17y ago
TL;DR: The universe is 930 Ym across.
d_c 17y ago
Just wow.

90 points by erikstarck 17y ago

That's pretty cool. It reminds me of an old movie about orders of magnitude and scale that just went through factors of 10 in constant time from a person out to the observable universe. It's weird how there are vast scales where there's nothing.

phren0logy 17y ago
You mean Charles and Ray Eames' "Powers of 10": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z53wTtGGA0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z53wTtGGA0
- lutorm 17y ago
  That's the one.
shrikant 17y ago
I would imagine vast scales of nothing are 'easier' (in the cosmis sense) to accomplish and maintain. Humongulous amounts of something leads to complications.

phren0logy 17y ago

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." --Douglas Adams

petesalty 17y ago
Not to nit-pick but I believe it's "I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space". "Drug store" is a decidedly American phrase.
- phren0logy 17y ago
  You are right; fixed it. Thanks!
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  When books get released in other countries they go through and change many of these locale specific things, at least they do when it's going UK -> US, I think it's less common the other way because we're already so exposed to their culture.

moe 17y ago

In fact I think you will find that the universe covers pretty much everything; http://getonmyhorse.com http://getonmyhorse.com

bd 17y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse :)

superted 17y ago

A pretty mind boggling video on the same theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U

mortenjorck 17y ago
It's interesting to me how dramatic music always tends to accompany this subject. Whether you prefer the religious or secular variety, I think it's safe to say there's something universally spiritual about visualizing the universe. A thought which pretty much begs a link to Symphony of Science: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk

josh33 17y ago

I'd love to show this to some narcissists I know. But then again, they might think it is revolving around them rather than humbling.

Groxx 17y ago

"Powers of 10" sliders like this are kinda fun. This is easily one of the better ones I've seen (though it's really a "Powers of 1000"). Just wish it had a smoother way to zoom, the slider is a bit jumpy when it's small.

merraksh 17y ago
Try the arrow keys.
- Groxx 17y ago
  * smack * duh. Should've read the author's comments, eh? My mistake. I was assuming the circles on the end would perform the same action, but guess not. Thanks for pointing it out ^^;

jessriedel 17y ago

This managed to nail all the BS pseudo physics that drives physicists crazy to hear repeated.

paulbaumgart 17y ago
Please set them straight! :-)

Raphael 17y ago

Direct link: http://uploads.ungrounded.net/525000/525347_scale_of_universe_ng.swf http://uploads.ungrounded.net/525000/525347_scale_of_univers...

guns 17y ago

Here's another visualization. It overlays the objects on a grid, which explicitly sets the sense of scale. http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/index_f.htm http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/index_f.htm

mleonhard 17y ago

Also good: Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M&feature=fvw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M&feature=fvw

shrikant 17y ago

TL;DR: The universe is 930 Ym across.

d_c 17y ago

Just wow.