3BN YEARS AGO1M YEARS AGO1K YEARS AGOTODAYFirst multicellular lifeEukaryotesOctopusesHominidsPopSci Birth of average-aged person alive todayVelociraptorHomo genusGreat Wall of ChinaGunpowder
Steam engine Moon walkT. Rex Dinosaur extinction Monkeys ApesSharksProto-primatesFour-legged animalsMesopotamian/Sumerian civilization
Writing
Bronze Age Pyramids
AgricultureHumans migrated to North AmericaAntibioticsCave paintingsAnimal domesticationPOPSCI.COM/ SPRING 2020 9DATASCOPE HUMANS HAVE GOTTEN
a lot done in 300,000 years: We in-
vented agriculture, developed
writing systems, built cities, cre-
ated the internet, and shrugged off
gravity to land on the moon. These
innovations make our past seem
long—and stuffed with significance.But in the brief history of life, every-
thing we’ve ever accomplished
fits into a tiny sliver of time—just
0.008 percent of the entire con-
tinuum shown below. This is how
the rise of the animal kingdom
stretches out compared with our
relatively insignificant existence.pale blue blip
BYNICOLE WETSMAN/
INFOGRAPHIC BY SET RESET