Size might matter.
December 18, 2011 10:54 AM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Double. -- jessamyn
I was just about to make a comment about yoctometers. yoctometers
posted by JHarris at 10:59 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by JHarris at 10:59 AM on December 18, 2011
Huh, I'd never heard about the Pillars of Creation before, but that's pretty cool.
posted by codacorolla at 11:07 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by codacorolla at 11:07 AM on December 18, 2011
When I saw that the largest bacteria was larger than the smallest thing humans can see with their eyes, I went googling for a photograph. I found one. (Although I think it's photoshopped for comparative scale with the bug.)
posted by JHarris at 11:11 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by JHarris at 11:11 AM on December 18, 2011
Huh. Surgical masks do not block the largest virus.
posted by 3FLryan at 11:14 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by 3FLryan at 11:14 AM on December 18, 2011
You know, it's an interesting thing, that humans, and life in general, are right at the middle of this scale, at the 1 meter (aka 10^0) order of magnitude. The smallest things seem to be at about 10^-24 (although the smallest measurable distance is down around 10^-35), and the visible Universe is about 10^26, with the local galactic supercluster being at +24.
I dunno, it's just odd to see such interesting symmetry, and how so much of the complexity, at least of the sort we know about, is compacted between 10^-6 and 10^0.
posted by Malor at 11:18 AM on December 18, 2011
I dunno, it's just odd to see such interesting symmetry, and how so much of the complexity, at least of the sort we know about, is compacted between 10^-6 and 10^0.
posted by Malor at 11:18 AM on December 18, 2011
The music sounds like it was composed by Nobuo Uematsu.
posted by 3FLryan at 11:24 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by 3FLryan at 11:24 AM on December 18, 2011
I dunno, it's just odd to see such interesting symmetry, and how so much of the complexity, at least of the sort we know about, is compacted between 10^-6 and 10^0.
It is interesting. I wish I something interesting to say about it other than "what does it mean"?
posted by 3FLryan at 11:26 AM on December 18, 2011
It is interesting. I wish I something interesting to say about it other than "what does it mean"?
posted by 3FLryan at 11:26 AM on December 18, 2011
It is obvious that the makers of Katamari Damacy still have some work to do.
posted by JHarris at 11:27 AM on December 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 11:27 AM on December 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
All you need to know is that it's bigger than you can conceive of and you shouldn't think about that too much or you'll go crazy.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:28 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:28 AM on December 18, 2011
I can't conceive of something larger than I can conceive, so I guess I won't have trouble not thinking about it.
posted by 3FLryan at 11:36 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by 3FLryan at 11:36 AM on December 18, 2011
All you need to know is that it's bigger than you can conceive of and you shouldn't think about that too much or you'll go crazy.
That's what he said.
posted by found missing at 11:44 AM on December 18, 2011
That's what he said.
posted by found missing at 11:44 AM on December 18, 2011
You know, it's an interesting thing, that humans, and life in general, are right at the middle of this scale, at the 1 meter (aka 10^0) order of magnitude.
Coincidence, probably based on whatever the state of scientific discovery happens to be at any point in time. The invention of optics for making a telescope allows for, one day, the creation of a microscope, etc.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:47 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Coincidence, probably based on whatever the state of scientific discovery happens to be at any point in time. The invention of optics for making a telescope allows for, one day, the creation of a microscope, etc.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:47 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I dunno, it's just odd to see such interesting symmetry, and how so much of the complexity, at least of the sort we know about, is compacted between 10^-6 and 10^0.
I always like to think that proteins are the size they are because it's where physical changes of shape (i.e. protein folding) is the same energy scale as the chemical energies involved in binding. That way, if the protein folds right, the binding energy is suddenly different and if it binds to something, it can change shape and behavior differently. Much bigger, and the kinematic energy is way too big, and much smaller and the binding forces dominate. Then the size of the cell is big enough to hold enough proteins all together. The size of the biggest organisms is set by various tradeoffs (e.g. how resource consumption scales with size), but it's a good question why it stops at 10^2m or so.
When you get to the really big scales, gravity is almost the only game in town. Electric charge has positive and negative components that strongly attract one another, and thus they tend to cancel out when you average over enough space. Mass is purely attractive, though, and so you only see gravitationally derived structures. They can be very complex due to large numbers of bodies, angular momentum, etc, but just aren't as diverse as we can get with chemical bonding.
posted by Schismatic at 11:48 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I always like to think that proteins are the size they are because it's where physical changes of shape (i.e. protein folding) is the same energy scale as the chemical energies involved in binding. That way, if the protein folds right, the binding energy is suddenly different and if it binds to something, it can change shape and behavior differently. Much bigger, and the kinematic energy is way too big, and much smaller and the binding forces dominate. Then the size of the cell is big enough to hold enough proteins all together. The size of the biggest organisms is set by various tradeoffs (e.g. how resource consumption scales with size), but it's a good question why it stops at 10^2m or so.
When you get to the really big scales, gravity is almost the only game in town. Electric charge has positive and negative components that strongly attract one another, and thus they tend to cancel out when you average over enough space. Mass is purely attractive, though, and so you only see gravitationally derived structures. They can be very complex due to large numbers of bodies, angular momentum, etc, but just aren't as diverse as we can get with chemical bonding.
posted by Schismatic at 11:48 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
There are probably multi-verses meaning we are not in the middle, unless our universe is in the middle of something.
posted by stbalbach at 11:52 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by stbalbach at 11:52 AM on December 18, 2011
« Older Because we can do with some good news | Here are the young men Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by griphus at 10:58 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]