Size It Up Sources: every answer needs a dimension and a source

Which references appear in Size It Up Sources?

• Official scientific agencies, museums and research institutions for animals, nature and space objects.
• Architects, operators, public authorities and official project records for buildings, landmarks and infrastructure.
• Manufacturers and owner specifications for vehicles, ships and engineered objects.
• High-quality secondary references only when a suitable primary source is unavailable or needs context.

How does Size It Up Sources handle ranges and records?

If a source gives a range, the guide states whether the game uses a representative adult value, an upper bound or a documented record measurement.

We do not silently turn a typical size into a maximum. Variable species and objects can have more than one legitimate number, so the measurement note is part of the answer rather than fine print.

How are units and rounding handled?

Metric values are the underlying game values. Imperial equivalents are converted for readability. Display rounding is kept separate from the calculation value so a friendly label does not reduce scoring accuracy.

Where can I inspect Size It Up Sources?

Each published object guide links directly to its reference and shows its review date. The Size Library is the index of currently reviewed guides.

Visual asset credits

The current playable prototype uses modified Font Awesome Free solid icons as silhouette artwork. Font Awesome Free icons are available under the CC BY 4.0 license; the final object library will progressively replace generic category shapes with reviewed object-specific silhouettes.

What does a source actually need to support?

Size It Up Sources must support the dimension and value shown to the player, not merely mention the object. A general profile of an animal may say that it is large without stating the body length used in the game. For a vehicle, an official specification may give separate length, width and height figures; the page must point to the one represented by the silhouette. We record that relationship in each object entry so a reviewer can check whether the on-screen question matches the underlying evidence.

Where possible, we use an organisation close to the subject: a national park for a saguaro, a space agency for a rover, a museum for a specific preserved aircraft or a landmark operator for its own building. Such sources are not automatically perfect, but they usually document the measurement context more clearly than copied fact lists. If a primary source is unavailable, a reputable secondary reference can be useful when it identifies the species, model or reconstruction and does not hide uncertainty.

Why might two trustworthy pages show different sizes?

First check the axis. A wingspan is not body length, and the height of a statue with its base is not the height of the statue alone. Next check the subject. Different individuals of a species grow to different sizes, and a manufacturer's family name may cover multiple models. Finally check whether a page describes an average, an upper limit, a documented record or a rounded conversion. Two numbers may both be defensible once those qualifiers are restored.

The game cannot score against an open-ended range, so it selects one declared value. Size It Up Sources explains that selection on the relevant object page. For a variable species, a representative large adult may be more useful for a visual challenge than a vague maximum. For a prehistoric animal known from incomplete fossils, a midpoint of a published estimate can be playable while still being labelled an estimate. The source and note let players judge how much confidence to place in the value beyond the game.

How do scale, conversion and scoring interact?

The underlying comparison value is stored in metres so centimetres, millimetres and large structures can share one calculation. Labels are formatted for readability: a small animal may be shown in centimetres while a tower is shown in metres. Imperial equivalents are conversions of the same underlying value, not separate measurements collected from a different source. We avoid feeding a rounded display label back into the scoring calculation because that could create an artificial difference between what the user saw and what the game evaluated.

The reference object also needs a defined value. In a round with a person silhouette, the 1.7 m display is a chosen game reference, not a claim that all adults have that height. The target's outline is resized relative to this fixed reference. A result reports proportional error, so a doubling mistake has a comparable effect whether the target is a small animal or a large ship. Scoring is a game convention; it should not be confused with scientific measurement uncertainty or the precision of the source record.

How can readers audit or correct a number?

To audit Size It Up Sources, open a published object guide from the Size Library and read the direct answer, measurement note and review date. Follow its source link and look for the same dimension and scope. If the source has changed, now gives a clearer value or contradicts the game in a meaningful way, send us the object URL and the precise passage or public link. A good correction says whether the issue is the value, conversion, measurement axis, specimen or wording of the explanation.

We review corrections in the context of the playable experience. Changing an object's underlying value can affect scoring and comparisons elsewhere on the site, so the object record and its guide must stay consistent. A page's review date should change when a substantive check or correction occurs, not merely when wording is rearranged for search traffic. This transparency is more useful than a false appearance of permanent certainty.