Before he hosts his live show in Hong Kong on June 5, physicist and TV presenter Brian Cox shares his thoughts on missions to Mars and the future of humankind
In a world of Kardashians and Jenners, it seems unlikely that a particle physicist would become a global TV sensation—and yet that’s exactly what’s happened to Brian Cox. For more than 10 years, Cox has been a fixture on screens around the world, making stories such as the formation of the sun and nuclear fusion interesting and accessible to people of all ages.
Now, Cox is bringing these stories of space to the stage with a new touring show titled Universal: Adventures In Space & Time, which covers everything from black holes to the likelihood of alien life to the future of humankind. The immersive show has proved a hit, selling out stadiums in the UK, Ireland and US and setting Guinness World Records for selling the most tickets for a science tour and for the largest science show ever performed.
As he prepares for his Hong Kong show on June 5—his first show in Asia—Cox shares five insights into space travel.
1. Humankind will not survive without space exploration
“If we want to continue to expand as a species, we have to expand upwards,” says Cox. “We cannot continue to sit on the surface of a planet that’s already under strain.”
“Jeff Bezos has a lovely line: he says the one thing we’ve discovered about going into space is that the Earth is the best planet. So how do we protect it? His idea is to zone the Earth as residential, which is a very good idea. His ambition is not to have heavy industry on the planet, but to have it off the planet.”
“Go to the asteroid belt—there is so much power and resources a few hundred miles above our heads. There are already asteroid mining companies—we already have the technology to do it.”