# Things That Are Much Bigger Than You Always Thought **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 25, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241 "2018-08-25T04:36:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/1 "2018-08-25T04:36:24Z")
Mundane and Pointless? Yes. But interesting. [15+ Things That Are Much Bigger Than You Always Thought](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qlvtlix2k8) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/2 "2018-08-25T06:35:51Z")
No. 16: My penis. Its hugeness often surprises me. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/3 "2018-08-25T06:39:56Z")
Locomotives. Only when you next to one on even ground do you realize how humongous and massive they are. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/4 "2018-08-25T12:23:21Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > Locomotives. Only when you next to one on even ground do you realize how humongous and massive they are. This is one reason people get killed driving across crossings with a train coming. They don’t realize how fast it is really moving due to not perceiving its size correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/5 "2018-08-25T13:50:16Z")
I agree with a Wombat, I saw one in a zoo in Australia recently and was taken aback. I’d imagined them as ground-squirrel size. The other thing is Pompeii, much bigger and far more extensive than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/6 "2018-08-25T14:14:27Z")
My go to ‘you have no idea how big it is’ was in the video, the stop light. Until you see one laying on the ground, I think a lot of people if randomly asked would guess they’re about a foot or two tall, not nearly as tall as a person. They just don’t look that big up in the air. Same goes for road signs. Even ones not that high like speed limit or stop signs are pretty big when you find yourself trying to move one. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/7 "2018-08-25T14:20:08Z")
One of the clips in that video show a huge earth mover next to a school bus. I live/work close to Bucyrus Erie (now Caterpillar). They make (made) some of the largest earth moving equipment in the world. From time to time I’d see a flat bed semi driving down the road with a single, enormous part on it. Like just one giant gear or just the front bucket. Very different than when I lived near Case and would routinely see one or two large tractors (and always with a spare tire) on one flatbed. I’ve also seen windmill blades on trucks, also absolutely enormous. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/8 "2018-08-25T14:31:08Z")
The eagle talon was the one that surprised me most. I knew they were big birds, but I didn’t have a sense for how big their talons were. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/9 "2018-08-25T14:35:04Z")
The Eiffel Tower. Seeing it in a movie it looks like an ornamental tower maybe the size of a good-sized windmill. But when you’re standing undeneath it looking up, it’s absolutely massive. And when you ascend it in an elevator, the first level feels really high and the second level is about as high as I can go without wetting myself. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/10 "2018-08-25T14:53:40Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > The eagle talon was the one that surprised me most. I knew they were big birds, but I didn’t have a sense for how big their talons were. Yikes. Hey, they need to be able to pick up hobbits. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/11 "2018-08-25T15:01:28Z")
The windmill/wind thingies…:smack:😕 TURBINESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Holy moly those things are HUGE!! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/12 "2018-08-25T15:20:19Z")
Anything about sizes and distances in space always amazes me. There was a video last year about some guys building a scale model solar system in the desert. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4524AAZdE) On a more local level, one time a friend and I were driving through one of those animal parks. They had giraffes and zebras and things like that; they also had a rhinoceros. It happened to be standing next to the road and we drove up next to it - fricking thing was the size of our car. I knew they were big but wow. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/13 "2018-08-25T15:20:21Z")
A supernova. Well, not the dimensional size, but the amount of energy. From the xkcd “What If?” series: > [@](#): > > Which of the following would be brighter, in terms of the amount of energy delivered to your retina: > > 1. A supernova, seen from as far away as the Sun is from the Earth, or > > 2. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball? Answer here, halfway down the page: [https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/](https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/14 "2018-08-25T15:30:41Z")
The road sign was the one that surprised me the most. I love this representation of the solar system: [If the Moon Were Only One Pixel](http://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/15 "2018-08-25T15:30:50Z")
Michelangelo’s “David”. (This may have been in the video, but I never watch the linked videos. They take 15 minutes to convey 20 seconds worth of information.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/16 "2018-08-25T16:14:28Z")
One thing that’s the opposite is the Statue of Liberty. Yes, it’s certainly big but it’s not as big as many people imagine. A lot of people have seen the poster from _[Escape from New York](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wvoLtwni0kc/RrYq8dKID3I/AAAAAAAAKZQ/771Q43Ih3Ts/s400/escape+ny.jpg)_ which features the Statue of Liberty’s head lying in a street. It makes it look like the head is as tall as a ten-story building, which would make the entire statue the size of a skyscraper. In reality, the statue is 111 feet tall from head to toe. The [head is big](https://www.repstatic.it/content/nazionale/img/2014/11/17/233817772-e7375928-2e0c-497d-b23f-bac765fb3461.jpg) but nowhere near as big as it’s shown in the poster. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/17 "2018-08-25T16:15:50Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Michelangelo’s “David”. (This may have been in the video, but I never watch the linked videos. They take 15 minutes to convey 20 seconds worth of information.) It is. ---
**Author:** ![BlueInfinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BlueInfinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueInfinity)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/18 "2018-08-25T16:19:34Z")
On a recent crosscountry trip I passed a number of trucks carrying windmill blades. _Individual windmill blades._[A little research](https://www.wind-watch.org/faq-size.php) says that they can be 150 feet long. [Each one needed its own truck](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.alberta.ca%2Fenergyheritage%2Fimages%2Fcontent%2Fenergy%2FWind_turbine_blade_in_transport_southern_Idaho%255B1%255D.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.alberta.ca%2Fenergyheritage%2Fenergy%2Fwind-power%2Fmodern-wind-power%2Fmodern-turbines-how-they-work.aspx&docid=jL_kB1aSNxIIOM&tbnid=ICc5oV5lGk1crM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwj7guqTzYjdAhVL0YMKHbHrDScQMwhoKBMwEw..i&w=940&h=653&client=firefox-b-1&bih=848&biw=1280&q=windmill%20blade%20transport&ved=0ahUKEwj7guqTzYjdAhVL0YMKHbHrDScQMwhoKBMwEw&iact=mrc&uact=8)and [escort vehicles before and after it.](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fkfyo.com%2Ffiles%2F2014%2F11%2FWetzelBlade-630x389.jpg%3Fw%3D980%26q%3D75&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fkfyo.com%2Frevolutionary-wind-turbine-blade-from-texas-startup-company%2F&docid=Fb4qbk8M8PGBLM&tbnid=0kfKQeOa4j4YoM%3A&vet=12ahUKEwjt2IukzYjdAhWFw4MKHfXADXY4ZBAzKCcwJ3oECAEQKA..i&w=980&h=605&client=firefox-b-1&bih=848&biw=1280&q=windmill%20blade%20transport&ved=2ahUKEwjt2IukzYjdAhWFw4MKHfXADXY4ZBAzKCcwJ3oECAEQKA&iact=mrc&uact=8) (Stock photos just to give you an idea of the scale) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/19 "2018-08-25T16:22:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One thing that’s the opposite is the Statue of Liberty. Yes, it’s certainly big but it’s not as big as many people imagine. We visited it a few weeks back and walked up all of the stairs (to the crown). When you do that, it seems plenty tall! But I agree that it’s smaller than I had really envisioned. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/20 "2018-08-25T16:24:07Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > The Eiffel Tower. Seeing it in a movie it looks like an ornamental tower maybe the size of a good-sized windmill. But when you’re standing undeneath it looking up, it’s absolutely massive. And when you ascend it in an elevator, the first level feels really high and the second level is about as high as I can go without wetting myself. I only, finally, went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower last year. Standing near it on the ground, you can appreciate that it’s huge. Going up (and up, and up) in the elevator, especially when the structure narrows around you and Paris recedes to a blur below, the sensation is distinctly _Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, this is really high up!_ Grown-up people whimpered. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241.md?page=2)