Now, we have what you might call “Powers of Ten” for the Millennial Generation.
The “Powers of Ten” films are two short American documentary films written and directed by Charles and Ray Eames. The films depict the relative scale of the Universe according to an order of magnitude based on a factor of ten, first expanding out from a picnic spot in Chicago until the entire universe is surveyed, then reducing inward until a single atom and its quarks are observed.
Now, we have what you might call "Powers of Ten" for the Millennial Generation. "Scale of the Universe 2" is an interactive visualization that explains the vast range in scale of the universe. Using objects varying in size from 10 to the -35th meters to 10 to the 27 the meters, this interactive attempts helps us grasp the size of the universe in relation to familiar (and unfamiliar) objects. From a beach ball to a mimivirus, and then back to the sun, the visualization lets you zoom in and out of the universe. Want to know more about the Horsehead Nebula? Quantum foam? The Hoover Dam? Just click on the icons as you travel between yoctometers and parsecs for a short definition.
But, wait… there is more! It turns out that "Scale of the Universe 2" was created by Cary Huang, a 14-year-old ninth grader from Moraga, Calif., with technical help from his twin brother Michael. They worked on the project, on and off, for a year and a half, getting information from Wikipedia and astronomy books.
Asked if he thought there was a lesson to be learned from the project, Cary says, "I would like to say that humankind is a very small part of the universe we live in. There could be so much more out there, but we just don't know it yet."
