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The Scale of the Universe

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The Scale of the Universe
Title screen of "The Scale of the Universe".
Title screen of the first edition
DeveloperCary and Michael Huang
Composers
EngineAdobe Flash
PlatformWeb-based
Release2010
GenreEdutainment

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

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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

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Inspiration

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b "'The Scale of the Universe,' by Two Teenage Brothers". ABC News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Scale of the Universe, by Cary and Michael Huang". The Planetary Society. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  3. ^ "Another interactive way to scale the Universe". SYFY. February 12, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
  4. ^ "Scale of the Universe". McDonald Institute. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Donahoo, Daniel (March 1, 2012). "The Scale of the Universe: An Interactive Infographic". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  6. ^ Murphy, Dan (March 1, 2012). "Something beautiful". The Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  7. ^ O'Connor, J. D. (February 14, 2012). "Moraga's Huang Brothers Define Our Place In the Universe". Patch. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
  8. ^ Hill, David J. (April 15, 2012). ""The Scale Of The Universe 2" Animation Made By 14-Year-Olds Is Mind Blowing". Singularity Hub. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "The Scale of the Universe 2". htwins.net. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  10. ^ Brush, Mark (July 20, 2012). "Friday diversion: Two 14 year olds show us the scale of the universe". Michigan Public. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  11. ^ Weber, Harrison (February 7, 2012). "Scale of the Universe Takes You from Atoms to Galaxies". The Next Web. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  12. ^ "Miscellaneous: Fun and learning in one! Get stuck in to The Scale of the Universe 2". www.itsnicethat.com. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  13. ^ Rao, Mallika (July 20, 2012). "'The Scale Of The Universe 2': Cary And Michael Huang Let You Scroll Through The Universe (PHOTOS)". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  14. ^ "APOD: 2018 October 7 - The Scale of the Universe Interactive". NASA. October 7, 2018. Archived from the original on October 7, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  15. ^ VanderBorght, Mieke. "Universe in a Nutshell App Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  16. ^ "WGSBN Bulletin 1, #3" (PDF). WGSBN Bulletin. 1 (3). International Astronomical Union: 7. June 16, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
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