Do People Understand the Scale of the Universe?

People don’t understand the scale of the Universe. There’s a data driven way to read the news: go to to get 30% off the Vantage plan and see through sensationalized reporting. If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms – a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically – ▀▀▀ A huge thank you to Dr. Ashmeet Singh for his expert feedback on this video. ▀▀▀ References: Fun video by RealLifeLore about the scale of the Universe - Moon Facts via NASA - Titan Facts via NASA - Mercury Facts via NASA - Why Pluto is no Longer a Planet, BBC News via YouTube - Pluto, Wikipedia - Eris, Wikipedia - Brown, M. E., & Schaller, E. L. (2007). The mass of dwarf planet Eris. Science, 316(5831), 1585-1585. - Trans-Neptunian object, Wikipedia - IAU 2006 General Assembly Press Release, via IAU - Solar System Moons via NASA - Solar System Asteroids via NASA - Solar System, Wikipedia - How many stars are in the Universe via ESA - Catalog of Exoplanets via exoplanet - Crowther, T. W., Glick, H. B., Covey, K. R., Bettigole, C., Maynard, D. S., Thomas, S. M., ... & Bradford, M. A. (2015). Mapping tree density at a global scale. Nature, 525(7568), 201-205. - Galaxy, Wikipedia - Counting Galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope via NASA - Conselice, C. J., Wilkinson, A., Duncan, K., & Mortlock, A. (2016). The evolution of galaxy number density at z8 and its implications. The Astrophysical Journal, 830(2), 83. - Sagan, C., & Druyan, A. (2011). Pale blue dot: A vision of the human future in space. Ballantine books. Images & Video: Clip of Titan’s Surface, NASA via YouTube - Clips of Pluto Had it Coming, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert via YouTube - Image of Solar System Objects - ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Adam Foreman, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Burt Humburg, Chris Harper, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Diffbot, Evgeny Skvortsov, Gnare, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Max Paladino, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Stephen Wilcox, Tj Steyn, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures ▀▀▀ Directed by Casper Mebius Written by Casper Mebius and Derek Muller Additional research & fact checking by Gregor Čavlović Edited by Peter Nelson Animated by Ivy Tello and Alondra Vitae Filmed by Derek Muller, Raquel Nuno and Zyan Treadwell Produced by Derek Muller, Casper Mebius and Han Evans Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, StoryBlocks and by courtesy of NASA, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO, NASA JPL, NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA GSFC, NASA HQ, NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, NCSA, A. Kritsuk, M. Norman Music from Epidemic Sound Thumbnail by Peter Sheppard