SortStack #872 — 2028-10-28

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. One full rotation of the London Eye 30 min

   It moves so slowly — about 0.9 km/h — that it usually doesn't stop to let passengers on; you simply step into the moving capsule.

3. The average adult's actual night of sleep 6.8 h

   Smartphone-tracking studies put the global average well under the recommended eight hours — and humans sleep less than virtually any other primate.

4. 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.

5. 'Logistics', the longest film ever made 35.7 days

   The Swedish experimental film follows a pedometer's supply chain in reverse, in real time, from a Stockholm shop back to a Chinese factory.

6. The Berlin Wall standing, from construction to fall 28.2 years

   Since 2018, the Wall has been down longer than it ever stood — and more of it now sits in museums worldwide than in Berlin.

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