SortStack #1124 — 2029-07-07

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A single blink of the human eye 348 ms

   We blink around 15-20 times a minute, and the brain edits out the darkness — you're effectively blind for about 10% of your waking hours.

2. Cooking a perfect soft-boiled egg 4.5 min

   At high altitude it takes noticeably longer — water boils below 100°C up a mountain, which is why mountaineers complain about their eggs.

3. A performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 74 min

   Legend says the CD was designed to hold 74 minutes specifically so the Ninth would fit on a single disc — a Sony executive's favourite piece.

4. The Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon's 'Battle of the Nations' 4 days

   With around 600,000 soldiers from over a dozen nations, the 1813 clash was Europe's largest battle until the First World War.

5. A periodical cicada's life cycle, egg to final emergence 17 years

   They spend 17 years underground and mere weeks in the sun — the prime-numbered cycle may have evolved to dodge predators' breeding rhythms.

6. The time since Neanderthals went extinct 39.9K years

   They never fully vanished: most people outside Africa carry around 2% Neanderthal DNA, influencing skin, immunity, and even sleep patterns.

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