California is roughly in the same size range as the dwarf planet Ceres. Whoa.
(Credit: Screenshot by Emily Dreyfuss/CNET)
I was struggling to meet a deadline, procrastinating on a million errands, and avoiding answering 100 e-mails -- in short, I was stressed. Then I saw this, and nothing seemed like a big deal anymore.
What is it? Why, it's everything. It's an interactive display of The Scale of the Universe. Twin 14-year-olds Cary and Micheal Huang built this elegant, mind-blowing rendering of the entire universe. And with their curiosity and gumption, they created the best tool I've ever encountered to "put things in perspective." Kurt Vonnegut would be proud.
I missed this when it made its rounds of the Web in February. In case you did, too, stop what you are doing right now and check it out.
When you realize how small we are in comparison with the star Gomez's Hamburger, yet how big we are compared with a mist droplet, all your worries might fade away. You'll at least be gloriously distracted from your worries for a few minutes.
And don't miss the adorable blurbs. For instance, check out what the twins have to say about shrews: "Shrews are great little thingies. Their metabolism rate is so high they must eat their body weight every single day!"
If this had been part of science class, I would have learned way more.
(Credit: Screenshot by Emily Dreyfuss/CNET)
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