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Original poster

Wonders of the universe

18 replies

zanz1bar · 06/03/2011 21:33

Now I am a big Brian cox fan, and not just for his mind!
But boy is he spending the location budget like water.
Patagonia,Namibia,costa rica.
The universe is a big place, where next?

OP posts:
TooManyBlossoms · 06/03/2011 21:37

Brian Cox. Drool...

Sorry, I was trying to think of something intelligent and physic-y to say. But failed.

Original poster
zanz1bar · 06/03/2011 21:52

I could have demonstrated the sand/bucket/universe stuff on Brighton beach.
Ok it wouldn't have made much sense, but for a fraction of the cost.

OP posts:
Original poster
zanz1bar · 06/03/2011 21:52

He has very White teeth

OP posts:
IntergalacticHussy · 07/03/2011 10:30

i agree - i'm not one for bashing the public sector on reckless spending, but what with his dw complaining that he's away all the time anyway, you would have thought he'd reign it in a bit.

having said that, there is something about the way he says 'deep time' makes me come over all unnecessary, but that would still be true if he was sitting on the seafront at Margate.

Thought the first episode was a bit dumbed down but had some interesting moments. Or maybe i was just absorbed in staring at his crotch in those very skinny jeans...

Original poster
zanz1bar · 07/03/2011 20:15

Very tight skinny jeans.

OP posts:
UnquietDad · 08/03/2011 22:52

"'Space,' it says, 'is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space, listen...' After a while the style settles down a bit and it starts telling you things you actually need to know..."

Enjoyed it though!

streakybacon · 09/03/2011 08:34

I think he's had a bit of voice coaching. I look forward to him saying "staaaahs" but it was more proper-English like this time around . His accent is part of his charm.

Ooh, and while I remember... Book early!

midnightservant · 09/03/2011 14:15

It wasn't so much about space being big as the universe having a long time span, most of it in the future, and much of it in the dark!

I knew most of it, and almost didn't watch because I thought it wouldn't tell me anything new (sorry if that sounds big headed). But actually I was very impressed, and am left with a much clearer picture of the 'life cycle' of the universe, so to speak.

I am immune to his charms. Michael Wood in his hey day now... Wouldn't push him out of bed even now.

UnquietDad · 09/03/2011 16:10

midnight - I know, but it had that same breathless charm as that bit of HHG which I have quoted there.

midnightservant · 09/03/2011 17:09

UnquietDad I know what you mean :)

"'Time,' it says, 'is long. Really long. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it takes a long time to wait for a reply on Mumsnet, but that's just peanuts to time, listen...' After a while the style settles down a bit and it starts telling you things you actually need to know..."

The interesting thing is he had some good things that one might think take a long time, and then showed how much more time there was.

But the really interesting thing was the analogy, first, between the featureless flat sand and the final state of the universe, and then between the rusting ships and the life cycle of the universe.

He also gives a Total Perspenctive Vortex read-out on the percentage of the universe's life-cycle that will support carbon based life. Can't remember what it was though, something mindbogglingly small.

midnightservant · 09/03/2011 17:10

oop missed changing one of the bigs to a long!

Of course, it's all space-time anyway Wink

UnquietDad · 09/03/2011 17:15

Entropy Increases. As any fule kno who was watching Doctor Who on 1980. Prof Brian and Christopher H. Bidmead would get on very well.

midnightservant · 09/03/2011 17:44
UnquietDad · 09/03/2011 17:46

Christopher HAMILTON Bidmead, as he amusingly intones on every DVD commentary he does. Doctor Who writer in the 80s, was very into entropy. Wrote for New Scientist too.

midnightservant · 09/03/2011 18:12

Yes, I discovered that Wink

I watched Dr Who from episode 1 (I was 12?)until part way through Tom Baker. But I am unfamiliar with the later Dr Who and vanished into the wiki in search of Logopolis!

I was also lucky enough to hear the first episode of HHGTTG, and to be able to tape the repeat a few days later (by now I was a hippie in her 20's) Then we played it over and over again to all sorts of people who didn't listen to the radio.

elvisgirl · 10/03/2011 04:37

I really cannot get enough of Brian at the moment...Manchester uni was my second choice to read physics around about the same time he was there for his PhD, but I got better grades Sad so didn't end up going there & I now I have all these fantasies about how I should have gone there & hitting on a student-aged Brian, yum... In these daydreams he looks like he does now but I look like I did then...funny that Grin

Have you seen this on youtube yet? The funniest & sexiest thing on the internet all in one!

EmmaBemma · 10/03/2011 06:54

Aren't there lots of competing theories about the lifespan of the universe though? I haven't seen the program but I did see him on the One Show, confidently stating that the universe will keep expanding infinitely, but I've heard other scientists saying it will expand/contract/expand.

UnquietDad · 10/03/2011 09:24
is rather good too!
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