SortStack #1726 — 2031-03-01
By duration · Order from shortest to longest.
- A Venus flytrap snapping shut on a fly 102 ms
The plant can count: it only snaps after two trigger-hair touches within about 20 seconds, which keeps it from wasting energy on raindrops.
- An amber traffic light before it turns red 4 sec
Amber phases are tuned to road speed — typically 3 seconds in town and up to 6 on fast roads, calculated from braking distance physics.
- A typical national anthem performance at a sports event 1.5 min
Uruguay's full anthem runs about five minutes, while Japan's 'Kimigayo' has just four lines — the shortest lyrics of any anthem on Earth.
- A full-term human pregnancy 280 days
Only about 4% of babies arrive on their due date — and the classic count starts from before conception even happens.
- New Horizons' journey from Earth to Pluto 9.5 years
It left Earth as the fastest spacecraft ever launched — and Pluto was demoted from planet status just seven months into the trip.
- How long the Hagia Sophia has been standing 1.5K years
Built in just five years under Justinian, it has since served as cathedral, mosque, museum, and mosque again across nearly 1,500 years.