A scale of the universe, from atoms to cosmos

Explore our favorite visualization of the immense scale of space, from an astronaut to the size of the observable universe

Explore the scale of the universe in this interactive adventure

The sheer enormity of the universe escapes our ability to conceive of its scale, despite the best efforts of human imagination. This interactive provides an intuitive sense of how small we are, from a single astronaut to the Milky Way and beyond.

Zooming out from Earth to the edge of space

For perspective on the universe's absolute massiveness, watch this four-minute video. Beginning at a facility in Germany, the "camera" pulls back revealing the surrounding countryside, Germany itself, Europe, the Earth, and so on. At one point stars form galaxies and galaxies, at a distance, become as seemingly "small" as the individual stars.

An animation illustrating the enormity of the universe

Look around you. Where are you? Where is this place you are occupying? Somewhere in a room, maybe in a city on a continent on a planet orbiting a star in a galaxy among billions. But… where is all of that?

Hear Carl Sagan reflect on the smallness of humanity

The entire observable universe in one map

Scientists believe we’ve only discovered about 5% of the universe. Here’s a map of what we’ve found so far, visualized using a log scale.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

From the Big Bang to present—a timeline

A timeline for everything, from the Big Bang to the beginnings of life on Earth. This article lays out, in spans of billions of years, what was happening in the universe as it became the universe. Starting from the Planck era, the earliest known meaningful time, to the probable "Big Crunch" 30 billion years from now, see how the universe has existed and persisted.

An overview of atomic composition, scale, and structure, which is almost all 'empty' space

It takes about 500,000 carbon atoms lined up next to one another to span the thickness of human hair, and over 99.9994% of the mass of each is contained in the nucleus. About 99.999999999999% of an atom's volume lies outside this nucleus, where electrons exist in clouds of probability. Removing these clouds, the Empire State Building would be the size of a rice grain.

Scientists are experimenting with ways to probe the multiverse theory

Researchers are simulating vacuum bubbles—the theorized starting points of universes—using quantum computers, digital models, and exotic lab setups to study how they form, expand, and possibly collide. One experiment aims to "blow" artificial universe-like bubbles inside ultra-cold quantum gases, potentially capturing real-time glimpses of cosmic birth processes in a lab.

Understanding time dilation

The faster you go, the slower time ticks for you. And the stronger the gravitational field acting on you, the slower time ticks for you. These phenomena – collectively called time dilation – were first explained by Albert Einstein’s theories of general and special relativity. In this 11-minute video, beloved astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains them to comedian Chuck Nice.

The deceptively simple proton

Take a visual deep-dive into the proton, a near-fundamental—but deceivingly simple—building block of nature. Among other beguiling characteristics, the particle can't be described by its constituent particles (quarks), but rather exists in a...

Astronomers use a set of scaffolding methods to measure distances across the universe

Different methods are used depending on how far away an object is—from radar for nearby planets, to parallax for stars, to redshift and supernovae for distant galaxies. These tools allow scientists to chart the universe across unimaginable scales using astronomical units (AU), light-years, and parsecs.

Quantum physics explained in 22 minutes

Brian Cox, Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science, discusses the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, emphasizing their importance in understanding the nature of reality and their practical applications in emerging technologies like quantum computers.

Smaller than atoms—what are quarks?

One of humanity’s eternal questions surrounds what we are fundamentally made of. Many ancient philosophies believed in a set of classical elements: from water, air, fire and earth of ancient Greeks; to…

The observable universe has a mass of 100 sexdecillion kilograms

The amount of visible matter in the universe is most accurately determined by measuring the cosmic microwave background. Quantities of dark matter and dark energy are calculated through the observed bending of light around galaxies and the expansion of the universe, respectively.

How atomic clocks have been used to measure the universe's fundamental constants

Atoms behave according to a set of parameters that scientists have determined give reality its properties. For example, the fine-structure constant, α, quantifies the strength of interactions between charged particles. Since the light emitted by atoms as they move between energy levels is affected by α, analyzing these emissions—the basis of atomic clocks—using different atoms helps calculate α.

What is gravity made of?

Our world at very small scales is governed by quantum mechanics, in which forces and energy come in discrete packets. At large scales, our world is governed by gravity, which moves the planets and stars and can create waves in spacetime. To merge...

The gut microbiome, explained

This video from 1440 takes a high-level look at what populates the gut microbiome, its purpose, how it affects our health, and much more.

See how distant aliens could preemptively strike humanity

Could aliens destroy us from light-years away? The team at Kurzgesagt imagines the impact of a highly sophisticated alien civilization setting out to crush humanity and considers the real-world logistics for warfare conducted across the Universe.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Explore the deepest parts of the ocean

The deeps of the Earth's oceans are some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Take a trip 36,000 feet to the deepest parts of the sea in this informative, 10-minute animated video.

The world's different calendars, explained

The calendar we use to mark the days, months, and year can feel set in stone, but the history of calendars shows these organization systems can and do change. Parse the fascinating, complex details of the Gregorian, Julian, Chinese, Hebrew, and many more calendars in this comprehensive, well-executed explainer video.

Watch visualization of different-sized asteroid impacts

The animations range from a 4-meter-wide asteroid that would burn up in the atmosphere with the impact of 0.6 Hiroshima nuclear bombs to a 940-kilometer asteroid the size of the dwarf planet Ceres, which would produce a mass extinction event.

Exploring the microscopic composition of blood

Visually, blood looks like a single, red fluid. Zooming in, it is one of the richest substances known, with hemoglobin, plasma, proteins, red and white blood cells, platelets, and more.

Explore different living beings' sizes, from DNA to whales and the Pando clone

The Pando is actually a single organism in Utah, comprising more than 47,000 stems connected by a vast root system. It spans roughly 108 acres. Meanwhile, the average human stands at 5 feet and 7 inches. DNA, the genetic instructions for life, stands at a height of 3.5 nanometers.

A beginner’s guide to the brain

Small but powerful, the brain constitutes only about 2 percent of the human body. However, it runs jus about everything, day and night, all year round. Learn about the different parts of the human brain, as well as its unique defenses, like the blood brain barrier in this four-minute video.

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The basic science of rockets

How do rockets work? What is the science behind a rocket launch? How does a rocket go into space? In this short and simple video, we discuss the science of rocket propulsion and what takes to get these vehicles into orbit.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.