The Scale of the Universe

[Shiv Mathur]

I found this superbly done.

http://scaleofuniverse.com

(the slider doesn't move on its own ... you control it at your own
speed and direction)

[Hardy Heinlin]

Very nice concept indeed, in my opinion. Also, the selected music supports the [...] nicely.


[...] = no suitable word found in my limited vocabulary

[Hardy Heinlin]

I don't know if it's possible in Windows, but on the Mac you can zoom any part of the monitor by scrolling the mouse wheel while holding the CTRL key.

If you can, zoom in and fill your monitor with that universe animation and start with the slider fully right. Then hold the left arrow key. It's a nice and smooth ride into the tunnel ...


(-)

[John H Watson]

This seems to be a better version (wider display)

http://htwins.net/scale2/

You can click on each object for a brief description

[Will]

Some thoughts.

1. I like the picture of the ant. It's cute.

2. I agree with you Hardy, that the music is well selected.

3. I really like the understatement at the end, that "We are probably not at the center of the universe." That's worth repeating as a mantra.

4. This was a logarithmic scale, obviously. It would be worth presenting how long the same journey would take on a linear scale.

Thanks for posting, Shiv!

[Will]

Also, it reminds me of The Mote in God's Eye, which was one of the best novels about human interstellar travel ever written.

[Hardy Heinlin]

This seems to be a better version (wider display)

http://htwins.net/scale2/

You can click on each object for a brief description

I like the concept and music of the first version better.

The second one has nicer graphics, but too many objects, too much clutter, no tunnel effect, and the music is too noticeable (disturbingly mechanical), I think.

[frumpy]

Similar thing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0

Starts off like a vintage nude-movie, but hey, it's Meigs field :-)

[Shiv Mathur]

I don't know if it's possible in Windows, but on the Mac you can zoom any part of the monitor by scrolling the mouse wheel while holding the CTRL key.

Wow, it IS possible!

Thanks for the tip, Hardy.

[John Golin]

Wow! Awesome!

I had to look up Wolf359 again - I knew the name was familiar.

[Richard McDonald Woods]

Excellent sites!

Looking back through future centuries to the present, surely they will say that suddenly people were freed by compuing technology to realise what a beautiful yet awesome universe we live in?