What is Size of Life?
Size of Life is an interactive scale comparison by Neal Agarwal of neal.fun, released in December 2025. It starts with the smallest building block of life, DNA, and steps up through cells, insects, animals and trees. Each step zooms out until the last one, the Pando aspen clone in Utah, a grove of trees that shares one root system and counts as a single organism.
Agarwal made it with Canadian illustrator Julius Csotonyi, who spent five months painting more than 60 illustrations by hand, with no AI. A cello soundtrack performed by Iratxe Ibaibarriaga plays in the background, which gives the whole thing a slow, peaceful feel. It was covered by Laughing Squid, FlowingData and others, and it is the kind of page you open for a minute and stay on for twenty.
What You Can Do
- Zoom from DNA to the largest living organism
- More than 60 hand-painted illustrations
- Short facts about each lifeform along the way
- A calm cello soundtrack
- Works with scrolling, clicking or tapping
How to Play Size of Life
- Open neal.fun/size-of-life.
- Turn your sound on for the music.
- Scroll or click to move to the next, larger lifeform.
- Read the notes and keep going until you reach the biggest.
Is Size of Life Free?
Size of Life is free with no account. neal.fun has no paid plan, only an optional way to support Neal's work.
Who Will Enjoy It?
- Nature and biology lovers
- Teachers and students learning about scale
- Fans of illustration and natural history art
- Anyone who wants a relaxing, curious few minutes
Websites Like Size of Life
- The Deep Sea: Another neal.fun scroll through the natural world, this time down into the ocean.
- The Size of Space: The same idea of scale, pointed at the universe.
- Space Elevator: A neal.fun journey upward through the atmosphere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Size of Life free?
Yes. It is free to explore in your browser with no sign-up.
Who painted the illustrations?
Canadian illustrator Julius Csotonyi painted more than 60 illustrations by hand for the project.
What is the largest living thing in Size of Life?
It ends with Pando, a grove of aspen trees in Utah that share a single root system.