Sometimes it’s hard to understand the world in relation to ourselves, especially in size. Things we think are huge are actually tiny and things we think are tiny are actually huge, all in accordance to our own height. It’s nice to regain some perspective as a way to remind ourselves of our standing, so here’s a list!
“Mount Fuji seen from the International Space Station.”
Sure, seeing the height of a mountain from the base we know it’s big, but seeing its width and height from above? That’s a whole other type of big .
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“Baobabs in the mist. Madagascar.”
I’ve always loved baobab trees because they look like children’s drawings come to life. Absolutely huge, fat trunks, branches only on the top.
“These Windows Inside Dos Bosco Chapel- Brasilia, Brazil.”
The artistry in churches and chapels is unparalleled. So many stunning features and designs, especially in the glass works, like this photo shows.
“This is a 2000-year-old dog paw print.”
I suppose this image gives us more of a perspective on time rather than on size, but it’s still interesting to remember that man’s best friend has been around for generations and generations .
“Andromeda’s actual size if it were brighter.”
If we could clearly see the other galaxies drifting around in space, I think more people would believe in life on other planets.
“Statue of the Mongolian Emperor Genghis Khan.”
Not only are there people on the stairs, but if you look on the horse’s head, those little black dots are also people! There’s a platform you can stand on, and it gives a better impression of the size of this thing.
“Valley of the Souls located in Bolivia.”
Scientists theorize that these have been formed over thousands of years out of clay due to erosion , which explains their needle-like shape. Regardless of origin, it’s still a stunning sight.
“Bear sculpture made from leftover rice straw in Japan.”
It looks like it’s trying really hard to scare that kid, who’s simply not having it. Jokes aside, it’s a super cool sculpture. I love seeing natural work like this!
“The size of an Argentinosaurus’s leg.”
The statement “dinosaurs are big” is not new or shocking, but seeing just how big some of them were is still scary, to say the least.
“The incredible size of a construction dump truck. (Semi truck for scale).”
My dad drives a semi. When I was a kid, I thought it was absolutely huge, just the biggest vehicle out there. I was wrong.
“These Tiny Doors are all over my city.”
Apparently, these tiny doors are put up by an artist in Atlanta . This particular one shows support for the Black Lives Matter movement that was spurred on the death of George Floyd. Whoever makes these is a great artist. Those little posters are fantastic!
“A sinkhole in Turkey.”
Oh good, my totally unnecessary fear of a sinkhole appearing beneath my car while I’m driving has returned with one look at this photo.
“World’s largest wine barrel.”
Now this looks like the right amount for a good Friday night. With luck, it’d even last me ’til Sunday!
“This crooked house in my neighborhood.”
We’ve seen big things, little things, now how about slanted things? I think walking through the inside would give me a headache, too daunting.
“Highly detailed mini couches at a furniture store.”
I don’t know what these are for but I’m desperately hoping they’re extremely fancy pet beds.
“Pyramid of [Giza] with god rays.”
I think “god rays” is a great term for what’s going on in this picture. That type of back lighting reminds of how great the great pyramids are.
“Fortunate enough to work with one of the world’s largest wheel [loaders].”
In the comments, the uploader added more details: “[It’s] pretty big, this bucket is 20 meters cube un heaped. About 40-50 tonne per load into the truck on a surface mine.”
“The Megatherium aka Giant Sloth could grow up to 20ft in height and weight up to 6 tons.”
Hopefully, it moved just as slow as sloths today. I don’t want to picture this thing running at me full speed.
“Bald eagle size vs grey wolf, caught on trail cam.”
I’ve made the mistake of thinking eagles are close to hawks in size before, but it seems I haven’t learned my lesson and needed a more shocking comparison.
“The size of a Military Drone.”
Drones are one of those technologies that seem to only be getting smaller. But the smaller they are, the more they spook me.
Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck…
Okay, this isn’t a horse-sized duck, but it’s as close as we’re going to get. It’s actually a phorusrhacid , or terror bird. Yes, terror bird. They were carnivorous, flightless birds, and were the largest apex predator in South America during the Cenozoic era.
…or 1000 duck sized horses?
This, meanwhile, is a baby Appaloosa. It’s essentially the antithesis of the previous animal. For now, anyway, horses do get kinda scary the bigger they get.
“The size of a tiger paw.”
The bigger the paw, the bigger the beans. The more there is to squish like a stress reliever ball. Though, with a tiger, you could probably only do that once.
Big birds, big cats, big fish, oh my!
Well, not really a fish. This skull here blongs to the Livyatan melvillei , a species of sperm whale that lived alongside the megalodon. They had some of the largest teeth of any other animal, with some of them measuring 1.2-feet long!
“Titanic vs Allure of the Seas Cruise Ship.”
Cruise ships are behemoth structures that I feel like shouldn’t exist. I mean, they should be capable of existing but nothing that big should be able to float on water. It doesn’t make sense!
“327 Pound Halibut Was caught in Alaska Today!”
Because this scared me so much, I had to look up the standard size of a halibut, and instead, I found the hilarious size difference between males and females: “[Pacific halibut] males range upward to about 60 pounds and the females range upward to about 600 pounds in weight.”
“The Tail of the Great Sphinx.”
There’s something about ancient Egyptian art and treasures that seems so scaled-down until you see a photo like this one. They really had a taste for the grandiose!
“Life sized X-wing made from over 5 million LEGOs.”
It took me a minute to understand what was happening here, because though it’s life-sized, they made it out of to-scale Lego pieces. It seems like they called it quits on the pilot however. He’s just flat.
“The World’s Smallest Gingerbread House, ladies and gentlemen. 1/10 the size of a human hair.”
The little wreath , the doormat, the tree on the side — all the details are so cute! I doubt it would taste as good as a regular one, though.
“My husband had a hard time mentally visualizing the size of DNA, so I isolated some (~2-3 million [human] cells worth) and took a picture for him.”
Huh! This is kind of scary in an existential sense, but overall more cool than frightening.
“A farmer stands in the middle of a man-sized rift caused by [an] earthquake in Italy.”
For those of us who have never experienced one, it can be hard to understand the sheer destructive power an earthquake can have!
“A 3000 year old chalk horse pictogram near the village of Uffington in Oxfordshire, England. It’s the size of a football field and visible from 20 miles away.”
When I was a kid, I used to be obsessed with hill figures, Nazca lines…anything of the sort. I just think they’re gorgeous , and incredible planning feats from so long ago!
“The moment the first Deathstar was destroyed.”
When people bring up “movie magic,” I know today we think of CGI, but I love remembering the days when practical effects were everything.
“Perspective: the size of an A380’s tail wing.”
Fun fact about this specific model: “The A380’s vertical stabilizer has to be so huge because the A380 is actually too short.[…] It requires an oversized vertical stabilizer to make up for being closer to the horizontal pivot point, so it has less leverage versus if the stabilizer was farther away on a longer model. Airbus never made the longer version because of terrible sales on the original.”
“Actual sizes of bears.”
Aw, I didn’t know black bears were, like, friend height. They’re a huggable size. Not sure what to do with that knowledge, but I’m glad I have it.
