Software:The Scale of the Universe

From HandWiki
Short description: Interactive online visualization tool

The Scale of the Universe
Title screen of "The Scale of the Universe".
Title screen of the first edition
Developer(s)Cary and Michael Huang
Composer(s)
  • Kevin MacLeod
  • Cliff Martinez
EngineAdobe Flash
Platform(s)Web-based
Release2010
Genre(s)Edutainment

The Scale of the Universe is an interactive online visualization tool and website created in 2010 by twin brothers Cary and Michael Huang. It features a scrollbar that can be used to navigate through orders of magnitude and view various objects within such size ranges. Sliding the scrollbar to the left and right causes the screen to zoom in and out, respectively, using resolution independence in the process.[1]

Premise

The Scale of the Universe displays a title screen that redirects to a white background with various objects, including a human and a plant. It has a slider on the bottom that can zoom in and out to see the scale of different objects such as asteroids and plants.[2][3] The further the user zooms in, the further down in scale it gets. The user can zoom in until the Planck length is reached and visible, or zoom out until the observable universe is in full view.[4][5][6]

History

Inspiration

Creators Cary and Michael Huang in 2023.

Cary Huang first came up with the idea for The Scale of the Universe in 2010 when his seventh-grade science teacher put up a video that compared the sizes of different cells.[7] Cary said that he felt it was mesmerizing seeing larger ranges of different sizes, which inspired him to make and code the page.[8][1] Another inspiration was the online tool Cell Size and Scale, which was created in 2008.[9]

Release

Cary, along with his twin brother Michael, began development of the tool and released it later in 2010.[5] According to Cary, he used astronomy books and Wikipedia articles to help him scale the objects correctly.[10] At some point they also released other versions such as "wrong", in which the objects are randomly rescaled.[11]

In 2012, they released a new version called The Scale of the Universe 2, in which users can click on objects to see infoboxes with information about the object.[12][13][9]

Recognition and impact

The Scale of the Universe was featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on October 7, 2018.[14] In 2020, animation studio Kurzgesagt released the app Universe in a Nutshell, which took inspiration from The Scale of the Universe.[15]

The main-belt asteroid 10003 Caryhuang was officially named by the International Astronomical Union on June 16, 2021, partly in recognition of Cary's involvement in The Scale of the Universe.[16]

See also

  • Powers of Ten
  • Cosmic Eye
  • Cosmic Voyage
  • Battle for Dream Island, an animated web series also made by the Huang brothers

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "'The Scale of the Universe,' by Two Teenage Brothers" (in en). https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/page/scale-universe-cary-michael-huang-california-high-school-15573968. 
  2. ↑ "The Scale of the Universe, by Cary and Michael Huang" (in en). https://www.planetary.org/articles/3382. 
  3. ↑ "Another interactive way to scale the Universe" (in en-US). 2012-02-12. https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/another-interactive-way-to-scale-the-universe. 
  4. ↑ "Scale of the Universe" (in en-US). https://mcdonaldinstitute.ca/education/visitor-centre/exhibits/scale-of-the-universe/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Donahoo, Daniel (2012-03-01). "The Scale of the Universe: An Interactive Infographic" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/2012/03/scale-of-the-universe-2/. 
  6. ↑ Murphy, Dan (2012-03-01). "Something beautiful". The Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2012/0301/Something-beautiful. 
  7. ↑ O'Connor, J. D. (2012-02-14). "Moraga's Huang Brothers Define Our Place In the Universe" (in en). https://patch.com/california/lamorinda/moraga-s-huang-brothers-define-our-place-in-the-universe. 
  8. ↑ Hill, David J. (2012-04-15). ""The Scale Of The Universe 2" Animation Made By 14-Year-Olds Is Mind Blowing" (in en-US). https://singularityhub.com/2012/04/15/the-scale-of-the-universe-2%E2%80%B3-animation-made-by-14-year-olds-is-mind-blowing/. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Scale of the Universe 2". https://htwins.net/scale2/. 
  10. ↑ Brush, Mark (2012-07-20). "Friday diversion: Two 14 year olds show us the scale of the universe". https://www.michiganpublic.org/offbeat/2012-07-20/friday-diversion-two-14-year-olds-show-us-the-scale-of-the-universe. 
  11. ↑ Weber, Harrison (2012-02-07). "Scale of the Universe Takes You from Atoms to Galaxies" (in en). https://thenextweb.com/news/scale-of-the-universe-is-an-interactive-experience-that-takes-you-from-atoms-to-galaxies. 
  12. ↑ "Miscellaneous: Fun and learning in one! Get stuck in to The Scale of the Universe 2" (in en). https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/miscellaneous-the-scale-of-the-universe-2. 
  13. ↑ Rao, Mallika (2012-07-20). "'The Scale Of The Universe 2': Cary And Michael Huang Let You Scroll Through The Universe (PHOTOS)" (in en). https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-scale-of-the-universe-2_n_1279309. 
  14. ↑ "APOD: 2018 October 7 - The Scale of the Universe Interactive". October 7, 2018. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181007.html. 
  15. ↑ VanderBorght, Mieke. "Universe in a Nutshell App Review". https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/universe-in-a-nutshell. 
  16. ↑ "WGSBN Bulletin 1, #3". WGSBN Bulletin (International Astronomical Union) 1 (3): 7. 16 June 2021. https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/V001/WGSBNBull_V001_003.pdf. Retrieved 18 September 2024. 

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