# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/61 "2018-08-27T13:56:41Z")
I was pretty surprised the first time I encountered a [St. Bernard](https://goo.gl/images/ff2buc). I was working at a fast-food drive through window and his head seemed to fill it top to bottom and side to side! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/62 "2018-08-27T14:10:08Z")
The one that made me go, “huh?” Was the wild boar skull. The previous pic of wolves and coyotes made wolfs seem massive. So just how big are wild boars? > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Here’s an astonishing image.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/Apollo11_baseball2.jpg) It’s a map of the entire area of the moon that was explored by the crew of Apollo 11 superimposed on a baseball diamond. That absolutely blows my mind! NASA used the term “explored” rather loosely. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/63 "2018-08-27T14:13:55Z")
> [@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. Video of an eagle carrying a goat (not for the squeamish): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Yz7FFlFy8eM/hqdefault.jpg "Golden Eagle dragging mountains goats off cliffs.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz7FFlFy8eM) Start at the 5:00 mark. . ---
**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 27, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/64 "2018-08-27T14:51:32Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I was pretty surprised the first time I encountered a [St. Bernard](https://goo.gl/images/ff2buc). I was working at a fast-food drive through window and his head seemed to fill it top to bottom and side to side! We had a Saint when I was a kid. 200 pounds of slobbery love. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/65 "2018-08-27T14:55:03Z")
Not in a position to watch the video right now, but when I saw the title of the thread, what came to mind is the Saturn V rocket. When I walked into the building housing it at the Kennedy Space Center, I was blown away by how large it was. It’s one thing to know something is big; it’s another to actually see how big something is! And all that so it could accelerate a tiny portion at the top to the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/66 "2018-08-27T15:05:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No. 16: My penis. Its hugeness often surprises me. It’s unfortunate that there is no effective treatment for macropsia; however, don’t give up hope because it could happen in your lifetime. 😃 ---
**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 27, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/67 "2018-08-27T15:33:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It still gets me every time. I think it surprises everyone. A professional outfield is a gigantic space and you wonder how it can be covered by three men. And cricket grounds are even bigger. The MCG in Melbourne has a diameter of 180-200 metres. It is massive. ---
**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 27, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/68 "2018-08-27T15:39:34Z")
> [@D18](#): > > Not in a position to watch the video right now, but when I saw the title of the thread, what came to mind is the Saturn V rocket. When I walked into the building housing it at the Kennedy Space Center, I was blown away by how large it was. It’s one thing to know something is big; it’s another to actually see how big something is! And all that so it could accelerate a tiny portion at the top to the moon. Agreed, it is almost sarcastically big. You can barely take it all in in one sitting. Just a single engine nozzle on S1 is stupidly big, then you realise there’s 5 of them, then you realise that you’ve barely started to look at the thing. It is a wonderful thing to see in the flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/69 "2018-08-27T15:55:01Z")
> [@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. I was out on a surveying job here in Wyoming and came across a very large, dead Golden Eagle. Its talon could have easily wrapped around my upper arm :eek: I routinely drive in the active coal mines here as well, and it is… humbling being next to some of the equipment on site. [Here is one of those haul trucks with a person or two next to it for scale…](https://www.glassdoor.com/Photos/Peabody-Office-Photos-IMG1423738.htm) I also recently did some work near one of the actively operating [draglines](https://www.glassdoor.com/Photos/Peabody-Office-Photos-IMG1358842.htm) at the coal mine… watching it work, it just looks slow and ponderous, merely due to scale. But while it it turning, the far end of the boom is moving in excess of 120 MPH :eek: ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/70 "2018-08-27T16:04:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Here’s an astonishing image.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/Apollo11_baseball2.jpg) It’s a map of the entire area of the moon that was explored by the crew of Apollo 11 superimposed on a baseball diamond. Why is that surprising? Getting a covered warehouse for filming it was expensive. There was already such an expense getting Kubrick on board that there wasn’t much left over for sets. 😛 ---
**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 27, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/71 "2018-08-27T16:19:29Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I also recently did some work near one of the actively operating [draglines](https://www.glassdoor.com/Photos/Peabody-Office-Photos-IMG1358842.htm) at the coal mine… watching it work, it just looks slow and ponderous, merely due to scale. But while it it turning, the far end of the boom is moving in excess of 120 MPH :eek: The Big Muskie I mentioned upthread was a dragline. Simply enormous. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/72 "2018-08-27T16:51:54Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The first time I went to a baseball game as a kid I was shocked and amazed just how large the outfield is. On TV it looks like a medium size band of green but it is huge. Whereas the diamond and base paths are…just exactly the same size as the field my slow-pitch softball league played on. I once got to run the bases at Turner Field, and was bemused by that fact. Intellectually, I knew the dimensions were the same, but it just felt like a major-league diamond _should_ be bigger than a beer league field. > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Sure they look short when you are zipping along, but what if you are in, say, a slow moving vehicle? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/73 "2018-08-27T17:40:42Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Agreed, it is almost sarcastically big. You can barely take it all in in one sitting. Just a single engine nozzle on S1 is stupidly big, then you realise there’s 5 of them, then you realise that you’ve barely started to look at the thing. > > It is a wonderful thing to see in the flesh. I third the idea of the leviathanical size of the Saturn V. Nothing is so uncomprehensibly large, especially with the (relatively) low ceilings it’s just impossible to get it all in one shot. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/74 "2018-08-27T17:56:15Z")
See just how large traffic lights are has made a little more nervous about driving under them. If one of them goes crashing through my windshield I’ll be dead for sure. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/75 "2018-08-27T19:58:00Z")
> [@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. This. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person, you realize that it’s taller than most skyscrapers. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/76 "2018-08-27T22:15:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Here’s an astonishing image.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/Apollo11_baseball2.jpg) It’s a map of the entire area of the moon that was explored by the crew of Apollo 11 superimposed on a baseball diamond. I hear ya, but by design they weren’t meant to be outside the LEM very long (~2.5 hrs I recall) nor to stroll very far from it in case of any emergency. Once the astronauts and equipment were evaluated following their return, later missions were OK’d to increase distance and time outside the LEM. > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > That absolutely blows my mind! NASA used the term “explored” rather loosely. I also understand your point, but upon reflection I think the term “explored” greatly under-describes the achievement of Apollo 11. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/77 "2018-08-28T01:58:30Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > The eagle talon was the one that surprised me most. Every bit as impressive is their strength. I’ve been out hunting with falconers that had 2 golden eagles, and got the chance to hold one on my arm (for just a couple of minutes - they are heavy birds). Their grip strength - which they need to drive the talons into prey - is frightening. If they had comparable strength to twist their legs, it feels like they could easily break your arm. Fortunately, they don’t - not needed to secure a meal of jackrabbit. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/78 "2018-08-28T02:22:21Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > The Blue Whale heart was a surprise. That seemed fake. I’m pretty sure that was a life-size plastic model > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Agreed, it is almost sarcastically big. You can barely take it all in in one sitting. Just a single engine nozzle on S1 is stupidly big, then you realise there’s 5 of them, then you realise that you’ve barely started to look at the thing. Sort of like Spaceball One. 😃 That crocodile is about the same size as the one that ate Captain Hook. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/79 "2018-08-28T02:49:14Z")
In August, 1972, I flew to Athens, Greece, to catch up to _USS John F Kennedy_ (CVA-67). The ship I went to was _CA-12 USS Columbus_, riding anchor off Piraeus, just to wait for Big John to get there. Now, Columbus was a large ship, much larger than _USS Amberjack_ (SS-522), my first ship. JFK anchored, and we of the transporting crew mustered and jumped onto 72-foot motor whaleboats to transit there. Now, Kennedy looked large from a couple of miles away. As the boat approached, she started looking larger, and then impossibly larger. As we approached the after companion-way, Kennedy just looked immense. From the gunwale of a 72-MWB you’re about 6 feet off the water. The flight deck is something like 80 feet overhead, and there’s about 60 feet of fantail on each end of the MWB. That was a big day. I lived through it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241/80 "2018-08-28T03:12:26Z")
On a trip to Germany, I went to see the [cathedral](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ulm-mintser-ulmer-muenster) in Ulm, one of the tallest churches in the world. For a couple euros, you can climb almost to the top. It’s a long climb, almost as tall as the Washington Monument. The topmost part, where the walls start sloping in to form a point, is all open like a lattice. Some of the Gothic motifs that look small and spindly from the ground are as big around as my waist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-bigger-than-you-always-thought/820241.md?page=5)