Science the last hope for humanity

Black holes, Interstellar visuals and mining the universe. Brain Cox has all the answers - or maybe not, finds Dani McDonald.

At a time when humanity is being confronted with some pretty scary questions, sometimes you just need to consider what happens inside a great black hole.

That’s what UK professor Brian Cox will be doing as he embarks on his ‘‘very ambitious’’ first world tour, touching down in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland in June next year.

Cox, who can list professor of particle physics, former rock star and TV presenter on his CV, is ready to ask the big questions.

Topics will apparently include the latest missions to the planets, the nature of space and time – from the Big Bang to black holes – and the origin and fate of life and intelligence in the universe. He also has big ideas on humanity, politics and the structure of our very society.

And if you’re worried that your brain might get sucked into a black hole of confusion, fear not.

Cox has made his name thanks to his ability to explain some of the most detailed theories and ideas in lay terms, using state-of-the-art graphics and imagery from ground-based telescopes and space probes to get his knowledge across to audiences.

In fact, the graphics are the same ones used in Christopher Nolan’s 2014 cinematic beauty Interstellar, capturing the mind-blowing images of black holes and wormholes, allowing audiences to imagine what it might be like to see the phenomena with the naked eye.

‘‘We’re going to be able to visualise it using these incredible graphics which were actually built from some computer codes that Kip Thorne wrote, who got the Nobel Prize last year for discovering gravitational weight,’’ says Cox.

‘‘These visualisations of black holes will be based on the real physics.’’

So, what would happen if someone were to fall into a black hole? Unsurprisingly, the answer is at least a little complicated.

‘‘We don’t know what happens at the centre of a black hole, but we have a very good idea of what would happen as you fell in – and it’s very weird,’’ Cox explains.

‘‘It’s a real violent warping of space and time, it’s a very useful test of Einstein’s gravity. Time runs at a very different rate for the astronaut falling into the black hole than it is for someone watching them from the outside.’’

Cox says, while scientists know all of this, the fact remains that what happens in a balck hole is one of the great questions facing theoretical physicists.

‘‘What it does is allow your imagination to run wild.’’

The scientist, tipped to be Sir David Attenborough’s natural successor by the man himself, speaks passionately about the idea that what science offers society today could improve our civilisation in the future.

One of those possibilities is the commercial exploitation of space, which Cox covered in his BBC series The 21st Century Race For Space.

‘‘The commercial exploitation of space is just beginning,’’ he says.

‘‘One of the worst ideas we’ve ever had as a civilisation is that we have access to limited resources. Because that leads to the idea that we should compete for the resources and fight among ourselves for resources and exploit the planet, when, in fact, we have access to unlimited resources the moment we start to think beyond the face of the Earth.’’

Cox says the next step in humanity is to look out to the solar system for mining opportunities on passing asteroids – and even Mars.

‘‘In order to expand our civilisation without further damaging the planet, I think that’s the next place in science,’’ he says.

He strongly believes that astronomy and cosmology deliver a vital perspective on our place in the Universe, but suggests the values of science are the key to creating a balanced society that can cultivate civilisation without putting the Earth at risk.

Cox looks to Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist and professor of physics most famous for being in charge of the Manhattan Project (the project that developed the atom bomb in the 1940s and 50s) for inspiration.

‘‘He realised what science does, is to force us to look at the universe in different ways, to look at nature in different ways simultaneously,’’ Cox says.

‘‘When you ask the question, what’s the best way to run a society, then you have to consider both the needs of society – and if you go so far in that direction it leads you to marxism or communism – and at the same time, you have to consider the needs of individuals [and the way they want to work and be motivated].

‘‘If you got too far down that route, you end up in rampant capitalism, and [Oppenheimer] pointed out you have to hold both views in your head simultaneously in order to run a human society.’’

One thing that frustrates Cox most about our current society is absolutism.

‘‘Science tells you that you are never absolutely right. You can be absolutely wrong, and it’s fine to be wrong, because you learn things,’’ he said.

‘‘In a sense, Newton was wrong. His theory of gravity is not the best theory we have, we have a better one there – it’s Einstein’s theory. But it was a great first step, it was the beginning of modern science in a way.’’

Scientists, Cox explains, never claim to know

‘‘Science tells you that you are never absolutely right. You can be absolutely wrong, and it’s fine to be wrong, because you learn things.’’ Brian Cox