SortStack #634 — 2028-03-04

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. One full revolution of a helicopter's main rotor 150 ms

   Main rotors spin at only a few hundred rpm, but the blade tips travel so fast they approach the speed of sound — the source of that thudding chop.

2. La Tomatina, Spain's giant tomato fight 60 min

   Around 120 tonnes of overripe tomatoes are hurled in Buñol each August; a firework marks the end and the streets are hosed down within hours.

3. One full rotation of Earth on its axis 23.9 h

   A true rotation takes 23 hours 56 minutes — the extra 4 minutes of our day come from Earth also moving along its orbit and needing to catch up to the Sun.

4. A tiger's pregnancy 105 days

   Cubs are born blind and helpless at around a kilogram — yet within two years they're apex predators ten times their mother's litter weight.

5. A frilled shark's pregnancy 3.5 years

   At an estimated three and a half years, it's the longest known gestation of any vertebrate — embryos grow just over a centimetre a month.

6. One orbit of Pluto around the Sun 247.9 years

   Pluto hasn't completed a single orbit since its discovery in 1930 — it won't finish its first 'observed year' until 2178.

← All puzzles · Play today’s SortStack