Episode Synopsis
Space is an immeasurable void of discovery. Fascinating, incomprehensible, and in so many ways; really, really cool. Never before have humans been so active in it. In this podcast we will explore with Professor Brian Cox – a master explainer on physics and space – some of the big questions lurking in the corners of our Galaxy. What are the chances we’ll find life out there? Would the earth flourish without human activity? And where can we expect our space capabilities to be in the near future?
A Teaser of What We Discovered in this Video…
‘Humans are invaluebly unique… Imagine we start a nuclear war, the person who presses the button could very well wipe out ‘meaning’ in a Galaxy.‘
Professor Brian Cox.
Watch the Main Interview Video
About Professor Brian Cox:
Professor Brian Cox is often called the poster boy of Particle Physics. He’s the Professor at Manchester University but is best known for his down to earth explanations of very complex questions about the universe. He’s done documentaries, TV shows and many children’s programmes that make science accessible to millions. He has been working on the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider for many years. The project discovered the Higgs Boson, or The God Particle, in 2012. Later this year, Brian will return to his arena tours with Horizons: a 2021 Space Odyssey, a cinematic journey through the story of how we came to be using state-of-the-art LED technology.
Connect with Brian:
Show Notes:
4:37 – Is the universe eternal? Why is that important? And what do we know about the origins and future of the Universe?
11:39 – The value of science, standing at the edge of the known, and the question of God
17:19 – Could the universe just be a hologram? And how do we calculate the distance to the stars?
24:43 – What are lightyears?
28:38 – An explanation of Particle Physics
32:52 – What is the Large Hadron Collider, and ‘The God Particle’ (Higgs Boson)?
43:10 – Why does the Universe exist?
44:32 – What are we yet to find out about the origins of the Universe?
46:27 – At what altitude does Space start?
47:40 – How gravity works, and do things really floating in space?
53:53 – Blackholes
66:16 – What will happen to our Sun, and how long has it got left?
70:01 – Supernovas
72:41 – Exoplanets, and other ‘Earth like’ planets in the Galaxy. Is there life out there?
75:04 – Venus and its runaway greenhouse effect
80:17 – The Earth is ‘invaluebly unique’.
88:00 – Commercial ventures into Space, and how long until we’re an interstellar civilisation?
91:02 – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. What can we expect from the main Space entrepreneurs?
95:02 – While at University, Brian found himself in the rock bank D:Ream playing keys. The story of how he ended up in the charts.
99:07 – A Jax Jones and Brian Cox collaboration?
102:00 – Jax plays guitar for Martin to pay tribute to his late father.
Further Resources:
- Horizon: A 2021 Space Odyssey
- A glossary of Space terms
- The Value of Science: An Essay by Professor Richard Feynman
- Surely you are joking Mr Feynman
- General Relativity by Robert Geroch
- Spacetime and Geometry by Robert Geroch
- Brian Cox on why Stars burn in Space; with ITV This Morning
- Lecture at the Hawking 75 symposium, Cambridge University: Our Place in the Universe, with Professor Brian Cox