Vastoscope

≈10 nm → ≈0.5 mm

Cellular scale
The hidden architecture of living systems.

This realm contains particles that borrow life, organisms that live independently and cells that build complex bodies. The measurements are representative because biological individuals vary.

Enter this realm in the scale engine
Visual evidence plate for Antibody
13 landmarks4.7 orders of magnitude

Questions this realm answers

Start with curiosity.

  1. How small is a virus compared with a cell?
  2. Can bacteria fit inside a human cell?
  3. How wide is a human hair?

13 source-backed coordinates

Every landmark in cellular scale.

Ordered by the actual logarithm of its SI value.

Visual evidence plate for Antibody
10-8.0 m · Immunology

Antibody

≈10 nm

A Y-shaped protein that recognizes molecular features with extraordinary precision.

Visual evidence plate for Circovirus
10-7.7 m · Virology

Circovirus

≈20 nm

Among the smallest known animal viruses, built from a compact protein shell and genetic material.

Visual evidence plate for Ribosome
10-7.6 m · Cell biology

Ribosome

≈25 nm

A molecular factory that reads genetic instructions and assembles proteins amino acid by amino acid.

Visual evidence plate for Bacterium
10-5.7 m · Microbiology

Bacterium

≈2 µm

A representative rod-shaped bacterium, large enough to contain thousands of molecular machines.

Visual evidence plate for Red blood cell
10-5.1 m · Human biology

Red blood cell

≈8 µm

A flexible oxygen-carrying disc that folds through capillaries narrower than itself.

Visual evidence plate for Yeast cell
10-5.0 m · Cell biology

Yeast cell

≈10 µm

A single-celled fungus used in bread, fermentation and biological research.

Visual evidence plate for Human cell
10-4.7 m · Human biology

Human cell

≈20 µm

A representative human cell; real cells range from tiny platelets to very long neurons.

Visual evidence plate for Pollen grain
10-4.3 m · Botany

Pollen grain

≈50 µm

A tough microscopic package that transports plant reproductive cells between flowers.

Visual evidence plate for Human hair
10-4.1 m · Human biology

Human hair

≈80 µm wide

A familiar strand that becomes a broad cylinder under a microscope.

Visual evidence plate for Dust mite
10-3.5 m · Animals

Dust mite

≈0.3 mm

A nearly invisible eight-legged animal that lives among household dust and fabric fibres.

Visual evidence plate for Amoeba
10-3.3 m · Microbiology

Amoeba

≈0.5 mm

A single cell large enough to approach the edge of unaided human vision.

Guided routes

Meet this realm inside a story.

Life · 6 minYou are a universe

Move inward from a human body to cells, molecular machinery, atoms and the physical limit where ordinary ideas of size stop behaving normally.

Begin expedition →