On Sunday night, a little hungover, a little groggy, I had the pleasure of being invited to see Professor Brian Cox giving a talk about the Universe. What I initially thought was going to be a lecture in a small hall turned out to be something rather more than that.
The first pleasant surprise came when I arrived, not at a midsized theatre in the west end, but rather at Wembley Arena. Wembley arena where ABBA, Hans Zimmer and even Busted have performed, and now they had playing one man from Oldham there to talk about science. Not only was he speaking at the arena, but in fact he had filled it, 12,500 people turned up that evening to watch a talk about Cosmology and the universe, it was enough to make even the most cynical heart crack a little.
The second big surprise came as the lights dimmed and music began to swell. It became immediately apparent that this was not a lecture, this was a show. Powerful, emotional sound blared out of the impressive speaker system as incredible pictures of the Universe as we know it flicked across the screen, quotes from famous Astronomers and physicists were read out by an emotive voice and the whole experience was rather overwhelming. Particularly a quote from Richard Feynman, a hero of mine was spoken during the final crescendo (What is the pattern, or the meaning, or the why? It does not do harm to the mystery to know a little about it. For far more marvelous is the truth than any artists of the past imagined!) For a self-professed cosmic enthusiast this was the best way a live show could ever have started.
Then Brian walked on and the crowd went wild (the middle aged mothers wilder than most, my own included). This was not the introduction one would expect for a Science lecture, it was more that of a rock god, yet here I was, shouting and whooping along with the rest. Then he got right into it, and immediately the soft calming Mancunian tones were washing over us all. I won’t give you a play by play of exactly what happened during the show, but needless to say it was sufficiently mind melting as you would expect. The theory of relativity explained in 5 minutes, flying through black holes, explanations of planet formation and the birth of life, we bounced around the cosmos from point to point, learning as we went and in awe the entire time.
The essence of this talk was that Space is fucking amazing. You cannot fathom how indescribably awesome it is in every way, every square centimetre is a fascination, an enigma and a mystery being unravelled. It’s beautiful and terrifying, and Professor Cox’s talk was able to capture this. From the variation of a Nebula to the minutia of the primordial slime, from subjects as important as our meaning in the universe to replacing Boris Johnson’s brain, he took us on a journey through the interactions we have with an infinite universe, from the day to day to the unfathomably distant.
What was most impressive though was the way in which he was able to deliver the talk; at no point did I feel left behind by the complex high level physics he was describing, even when getting into the nitty gritty of the theory of relativity in relation to a black hole, a notoriously complex subject to say the least. There’s a very good reason that the titans of scientific broadcasting Sir David Attenborough and Sir Patrick Moore have named Cox as being the natural successor to carry on the torch for them for a new generation, his calming voice, relaxed nature and beaming smile are enough to make you realise that all this science stuff really isn’t as complex as you first thought it was. Far from it in fact, it’s interesting. That is the real gem behind his style, he makes you interested in what he’s talking about, even if it’s a subject with which you’ve never been particularly fascinated he somehow has the ability to put a little glimmer of excitement into your brain. It’s such an important skill to have, and at such a vital point in our history. It is currently more important than ever that someone out there is inspiring enough to get new generations involved in these scientific exploits, in going and finding out what makes the universe tick.
People often think that things like the trips to the moon, the Mars Rovers or the interplanetary satellite missions are wastes of money, flinging it into the sky for no real gain to humanity beyond an arbitrary need to satisfy curiosity. First of all that’s a fucking good reason to do anything. Second of all these missions have brought more advancements to society than could ever be fathomed. We don’t build these things because we know how to at the start, we get the idea and then we go and discover things in order to figure those ideas out. If you’re interested, here’s a list of the spinoff technologies that Nasa scientists have discovered directly as a result of the space programme. Science and discovery is the biggest benefiter to mankind, not creating value for your shareholders. Advancements in technology as a result of touching the stars are how we’re going to save this planet and this race. It’s how we will survive as a species. We need people in scientific roles, the best and the brightest, but without someone to truly inspire them like Pro. Cox, they’ll be funnelled elsewhere or left behind.
It was very pertinent that he finished the talk off with a discussion about the Fermi Paradox, or ‘the big silence’. Going from his numbers from the talk; there are 300 billion Stars in our galaxy, one in ten of those has an earth like planet, able to hold liquid water and oxygen, that’s 30 Billion Earth like planets, that’s 30,000,000,000. That’s a lot, many are much older than ours. So where are the aliens? Statistics say we should be able to at least have a hint of life on other planets and yet… nothing. The Big Silence. There are many possible reasons for this, maybe we’re first, maybe complex life really is statistically too complex, maybe they’re hiding, maybe we’re too stupid, but it was the final reason he gave, the most likely, the one that’s hitting us all now: maybe they irreparably damaged themselves first. Whether through politics, war, overpopulation or climate change it seems that the most likely reason why there’s no-one else out there is because they killed themselves first. Sadly it appears we’re on track to do the same thing right now, and this is the point of the talk, the reason why Brian Cox is here, why he gives these talks and why we need more people like him, because frankly if we aren’t inspired to look to the stars then we we’re doomed to die here on the Earth.
