+252 While the "Edge of Space" jump is impressive, it's somewhat scary to think that a corresponding fall to a schoolroom globe begins just 1 millimeter above its surface, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

that's interesting, where does that factoid come from?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The Twitter updates of a recognised astrophysicist https://twitter.com/neiltyson

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Nice

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I fucking love Neil tyson man.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well that really puts things into perspective...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

http://htwins.net/scale2/

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I read this a while ago, but I seriously do not understand what's being said. Can someone please help me feel less stupid?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The Earth is about 12000 km in diameter. The jump was about 40 km high. If you shrank 12000 km down to a globe size, the proportional decrease in 40 km would be about 1mm.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah B10ckH34d, way to make the guy feel less stupid y

by Anonymous 12 years ago

hmm made sense to me. It's just proportions.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It's no that what B10ckH34d said didn't make sense, it's just that it wasn't exactly a //dumbed// //down// version.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Ohh... sorry. I thought he didn't get what OP was getting at. I don't know how to explain ratios without maths...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Remember that guy Felix Baumgartner, who skydived from space to break the sound barrier? If the earth were the size of a globe in a classroom, Baumgartner would have jumped from a millimeter from the surface of the globe in comparison.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Thank you Sun!! I agree with Rainboots, I needed it to be reworded. A philosophical thought is hard to get out of a 140 character tweet, I guess.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't think it's scary, more so just interesting.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I find it scary in the sense that humans are small compared to planets, which are small compared to the stars they orbit, which are small compared to other giant stars, which are small compared to the galaxies they are in, which are small compared to the universe they're in, which is small compared to the multiverse that it may be in. Good thing I'm humongous compared to you guys.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

http://ctrlv.in/130829 How... are you a wizard, sir?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Nah, I noticed that too. Look around you, all new comments and posts have that O_O I mean, yes. I am a wizard. Worship the sun. Hail mithraism!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I might just be weird but that doesn't scare me, it just leaves me with a sense of awe.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Pfft. You didn't even see it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My science teacher was going over the layers of the atmosphere the other day, and to put things in perspective she pointed out about where he would have been. We were all surprised by how low it looked on that picture.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My teacher did the same thing.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

http://ctrlv.in/130848

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Confused on how this is scary.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

every time you comment i imagine you saying it with the face in your profile picture. O.o

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Now every time I see a globe i'm going to imagine little microscopic men in free-fall 1 mm above its surface. O.O ...cool cool

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That guy must have nerves of steel.

by Anonymous 12 years ago