SortStack #2909 — 2034-05-27

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A lightning flash from start to finish 198 ms

   What looks like one bolt is usually several return strokes in a row, heating the air to around 30,000°C — five times hotter than the Sun's surface.

2. A Formula 1 qualifying lap of Monaco 1.2 min

   Monaco is F1's slowest lap by average speed, yet drivers call it the hardest 78 corners-per-race of the year — the barriers forgive nothing.

3. a-ha's 'Take On Me' 3.8 min

   The Norwegian band recorded it three times before it became a hit — the famous pencil-sketch video took 16 weeks of rotoscoping by hand.

4. 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.

5. NASA's Perseverance rover travelling from Earth to Mars 203 days

   The 480-million-km cruise ended with the 'seven minutes of terror' landing — and the rover carried a small helicopter, Ingenuity, strapped to its belly.

6. A photon's journey from the Sun's core to its surface 170K years

   Energy ricochets through the dense interior for on the order of 100,000 years — then crosses the void to Earth in barely eight minutes.

← All puzzles · Play today’s SortStack