Prof Brian Cox on how the past is protected from the future

[Davedude111]

I have trouble trusting this man.

[Se1ander]

I got the speed of light thing.

But what had the minus sign to do with anything?

[Eniacbc]

That smile on his face while talking about something that fascinates him. Everyone should know enough about a subject to experience it. That's a great feeling. :)

[dartiel]

The Doctor begs to differ.

[DanteSparda08]

@dartiel Doctor Who?

[bobslayer1881]

can we get out of this time dimension cause I want to fight dinosaurs!

[Reveletur]

Ohh Brian from 2008, if only you knew...

[2010producerx]

"What will it be?" asks the barman. A neutrino walks into a bar.

[RobAudereEstFacere]

Why is 'World's Biggest Boobs 100 - Sexy Hot White Girl BBW' in the related videos?

[wesmatron]

@RobAudereEstFacere Because Quantum Theory has its knockers?

;)

[Keplaffintech]

3 people are from the future

[Roflcopter4b]

Who else is stoned off their ass?

[dude157]

3 people have seen neutrinos today arrive today that will set off on their journey tomorrow

[ocerg1111]

He's the Davey Jones of Physics :)

[TurKdiRty]

from myscience site on jobs as a professor ;

The steps of an academic career leading up to a professorship have the titles "lecturer", "senior lecturer" and "reader". Such university positions can be either permanent (usually with the opportunity to seek promotions to the next levels as the research career progresses), temporary (e.g. if funded by a specific budget) or "tenure track".

[Danbo342]

See kids, this is what your brain can be like if you don't use drugs (or watch reality TV since that's the same thing if not worse).

[teainthesahara]

Thumbs up if you think Brian Cox should be the next Doctor Who!

[lellyumsX]

MY BRAIN HURTS.

[dannysmith15]

He is so full of shit. I find it incredibly annoying that so many people think he is amazing. The only thing he is good at is ''real physics'' When he tries to bring the philosophical side into it he just makes himself look like a pseudo intellectual. And he says he is making hard stuff easy for people who dont do physics when really he is being a patronising cu#t!

[daobagua]

@dannysmith15 Wow. you sure a riled up. What did he do to you? What philosophical views of his do you dislike?

[teainthesahara]

@dannysmith15 Actually I'm really happy that thinkers can become celebrities still in this day and age without selling out.

[BonseBalm]

@dannysmith15 What do you mean by "real physics"? I heard special relativity, causality, etc. I didn't hear any attempt to be overly philosophical, he was just putting forward a hypothesis of perception of time based on the outcome of special relativity. And besides, even if he does get a little philosophical sometimes, he has a right to do this knowing what he knows about the universe. Would you write the same sort of comment on Carl Sagan's pale blue dot video?

[NellDollBell]

@dannysmith15 haters gotta hate

[dannysmith15]

@NellDollBell Why did you copy off what you read somewhere else? I hate the youtube meaning of haters. It's like me saying I hate mint icecream and then someone telling me I'm a hater. WELL DONE MR PONT OUT THE OBVIOUS! I onyl speak the truth. Only morons fall for his bullshit. He is good at physics but when he talks philosophy he is just embarasing his self!

[NellDollBell]

@dannysmith15 If you're angry enough to hate mint ice cream, eat vanilla!

[dannysmith15]

@NellDollBell Did you not get what I was trying to point out? Do you think your respinse what witty? God I hate stupid people. The people that like brian cox are stupid and he knows that. He talks a load of bollocks that he knows stupid people, like you, will like.

[NellDollBell]

@dannysmith15 I wouldn't normally reply again, but I was genuinely thinking about it on the bus this morning.

I think being angry about someone's engagement with a scientific debate is odd. No scientist thinks that they have unique access to 'truth'. However, just because your reasoning might be flawed is not a reason to disengage. Cox is essentially exploring a way of thinking about things. You could engage and say, 'I think this lacks credibility because...' But you just shouted, 'Heretic!'

[dannysmith15]

@NellDollBell Becaue he himself know's that he is talking shit. He does it for the money. He grabs the general moron and say's something that is complete shit but makes it sound intelligent to them. There is no denying he is a good physicist but he is full of shit. I have been to one of his lecture before and he is good at physics but when he starts with the bullshit he gets asked to talk about physics. He is not exploring anything and he knows it!

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 when you become a professor through x amount of years of research in a field with published findings in journal, then you can speak about him being stupid

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty If you are refering to brian coz I DIDN'T call him stupid. Do you even know what a professor is? A professor is a university lecturer! You dont have to have journals or have done any research to becaome a professor. And in one year I will be a doctor, I am past the level of professor by a long shot!

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 nah, to become a professor at a uni in the uk usually means they've written multiple papers on a certain subject as well as most likely having a phd

[TurKdiRty]

@TurKdiRty ..almost definately having a phd nowadays .go google scholar and search..

brian cox manchester

and you'll get some hits

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty You do not have to have written any journals to become a professor. He knows partical physics nothing more. Anyone can do theoretical physics. All it is, is coming up with bullshit to explain the unexplainable.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 you are so wrong it's not even funny.

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty Really? You are clearly just one of the morons suckered into believing every word he speaks. What qualifications do you have to say otherwise? A professor is a lecturer in a university. If they do not have a doctorial you call them professor, if they do you call them Dr... Having been in university for 5 years I think I would know how to address a lecturer correctly! What do you do? Some sort of foundation career path?

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 This isnt a case of who's got the biggest nob. you're just most definately wrong because I made the same mistake. And I was definately wrong.

go wikipedia and check out 'lecturer'. then go to the second paragraph of academic usage.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 i take it you finally researched professorship in the UK :D

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty Why are you saying it like I was the one that did'nt reply? I know for a fact that you are wrong. You can believe what you want to believe in your own deluded little mind but it would seem arguing with an idiot is an un-winable argument because they dont know they have lost.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 go ask your lecturer with the title 'dr' and ask him. you will look like a fucking tit. come back when you've gotten your facts right.

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty ''gotten''... He is called DR If they have master or less they are called professor. DO YOUR RESEARCH AND STOP TELLING ME TO DO MINE! Admit you're wrong. You're pathetic!

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty Wait, I need to correct a statement. If they have less than a masters then they are generally just a lecturer. THAT IS ALL!

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 LOL? that was the argument! and all this time you're telling me i'm wrong?!

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty How was that the argument? You said you have to have a phd and done so many years of research and have so many journals published. I said if you have a phd you are a doctor not a professor. You address someone with a doctorial Dr... and otherwise Professor excluding people with less than a masters. Dont try to worm yourself out of it now you have realised you were wrong!

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 you're wrong. go ask a professor in your university.

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty You really need to get a life. You are wrong and you know it, you have known from the start. You just come on youtube to start arguments for attention because you dot get it anywhere else. Ask a professor? We were told how to address lecturers on day one. You are the one making assumptions here. GO AND ACTUALLY DO YOUR RESEARCH! And stop telling me to do it. It's pretty obvious you did'nt go to university and dont have a life to get on with.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 you're a tit.

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty Finally you did your research. (obviously realised you're wrong) Next time do your research before you make stupid comments.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 what's the point man. you havent even bothered to look it up once, because if you had done, you would have realised a long while back. there's plenty on google if you search it, but im not allowed to post the countless links i could. you''re a fool. i'm done arguing.

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty Actually, I already knew I was right but went to look anyway just to check. And guess what I found on the first link I clicked! ... ''A professor is a scholarly teacher; Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" ''. Not grow up and admit you where wrong. You didn't even go to uni and you are just flame-bating.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 to quote from the independent (on warwick breaking from tradition and americanization of the title professorship)

'At present the status of professors in the UK is a balance between the aristocracy of Europe, where professorships are only awarded to a small academic elite, and the democracy of the US, where it just means that you are an academic. Warwick's decision looks likely to be taken up by other universities, tipping the balance in favour of the American model.'

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty You just quoted something that proves you wrong. I dont think I need to reply to that... Just that it was from 2006 and we are now in 2011. Where now it means TO BE A UNIVERSITY LECTURER. THAT... IS... ALL! (I'm now shaking my head at how stupid you are)

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 you're saying every university in 5 years has made this move?

you're a fucking spaz. how you're even doing a PhD is beyond me, you obviously cannot do your research.

I'm not arguing. go ask a professor.

[TurKdiRty]

@dannysmith15 he's smarter than you. accept it. and he has the proof of a professorship to show that.

i dare you to tell a professor that he is just a lecturer. you're a troll mate, and blatently dont know what you're talking about.

[ajthrax1]

@dannysmith15 That is the most offensive and atrociously flagrant comment I have ever read. This very post is a waste of time, but I cannot believe what I am reading. Albert Einstein would slap the shit out of you.

[dannysmith15]

@TurKdiRty Cox, not coz#

[ChaChinnngK]

@dannysmith15 Why don't you just stick to "Just Cause 2 Limited Edition Trailer" and the other crap ?

[dannysmith15]

I think you will find the past is protected by Doctor Who!

[ozipk]

What a dick.

[thorian1994]

@ozipk thanx i mean i think its pretty impressive obviously but to hear it from someone else is really fulfilling. thanx dude

[QueenOfTheAubergines]

the only thing I don't like about this guy is that he maes me feel stupid XD Anyway, that was interesting :)

[Rangepurezxc]

@QueenOfTheAubergines haha epic answer xD

[mmikaylaambrose]

Brian is sooo beautiful !

[TheAlexander356]

There is no past or future, there is only the present and time is just the relation of things within space.

[mustbehiggy]

Could you imagine smoking some hash with Brian Cox.. The conversations that would follow?!?! ... Brian if you read this and are interested... I'm sure we could set this up!

[TheAqui1a]

@mustbehiggy He'd probably get bored lol

[mrfrosty8172]

@mustbehiggy he used to be in a Rock band, he has a crazy story of getting trapped at disney world after the band forgot where they parked!

[qwertyuiopdan1]

1- put a big mirror on a distant planet then reflect lights off it in morse code

2- people in the past see the message

3- ?

4- PROFIT

[p3rs0nan0ngrata]

@qwertyuiopdan1

5. Remove expenditure from profit

6. HUGE fucking losses

[p3rs0nan0ngrata]

@qwertyuiopdan1

But seriously, what would actually happen is people in the future would see the message.

Say the planet is 5 light years away.

People here won't see the message until 10 years after you send it.

[MrWsad]

btw did you guys hear that interviewer's stupid laugh at end???

[llethaface11]

he looks like a 20 year old punk ass

[MrWsad]

@llethaface11 haha yeah! xD but he's not.

[Librascam]

If only we had a Flux capacitor.. maybe then we could break beyond the minus sign! :P

[devonmale69]

@Librascam All capacitors are Flux capacitors .... its the element between the two plates and flow through it which is the flux

[naybobdenod]

brilliant

[ArtisanTony]

Watch out Brian, the YouTube crazies will get you for busting their conspiracy theories :)

[manoskolam1]

I will marry a physicist from lanceshire one day, does that sound stupid? i dont care he makessss me wanna give up on medicine!

[tepanec]

hes too cute to be aman

[transfoby]

The real secret of the universe is his thtat he looks so young for a middle-aged man. Must be all those particles flying around, time travell and all...

[11FotoFlame11]

have to love the 'ha?!' from the producer at the end of that stream of conciousness.

[EnceladusTitan]

@transfoby LOL. "They could have used that money to built sustainable sources of energy and help our planet" ??? CERN ARE working towards making sustainable sources of energy to help our planet. Also, their leaps in knowledge of protons have enabled medical scientists to develop "proton therapy" to help cancer sufferers. Why have you got so much aggro towards Brian and his family, and CERN? you think people at CERN aren't concerned for the welfare of their own families? They are still people!

[transfoby]

This fuck is married to an American of Serbian descent, just like the other twitt Ainstein.

I bet she works for CIA..No major info for her, no birthdate or background..NWO rules

[karadan100]

@transfoby Obvious troll is obvious.

[tepanec]

hes gay but smart

[EnceladusTitan]

lol, this video just reminds me of CERN's excuse for one of their failures, that it was "destroying itself from the future" much as I admire the work at CERN, and Brian Cox, but I'm sure he just destroyed that excuse in this video.

Science is fascinating :)

[9hello123]

@EnceladusTitan hes talking about regular particles not tachyons.

[transfoby]

@EnceladusTitan They don't even know what that experiment is going to produce. They all look like a bunch of clowns, not real scientists. Why would you admire LHC. It is in essenca a proton bomb. They could have used that money to built sustainable sources of energy and help our planet.

[karadan100]

@transfoby It isn't a bomb in the slightest. Learn about CERN before making yourself look silly on youtube.

[transfoby]

@karadan100 hahhahhaahaha....when I said a 'bomb' I was being sarcastic

[deathkill30001]

@transfoby it's not science if you already know what the outcome will be. so you should be saying "...not real demonstrators.".

[transfoby]

@deathkill30001 Exactly! :) Glad to meat a brilliant mind, finally!

[transfoby]

@transfoby OOPS! To meet...:)

[deathkill30001]

@transfoby okay...how did i agree with you?

[transfoby]

@deathkill30001 You didn't...I agreed with you!

[FeelOfFriction]

I guess he's never heard of Bell's Theorem.

[meatpie29]

what is a minus sign?

[Experiment47]

@meatpie29 It's the opposite of the plus sign (+ & -)

[adcenterbaka]

young man my ass, he is pushing 42 =)

looks young and behaves like one though

[transfoby]

@adcenterbaka Yeah, he must be on drugs..it's all those protons he is inhaling at LHC

[neoaeonian]

I like the guy, but he seems to have left out a lot in this particular explanation. Saying, "the minus sign" and "The speed of massless particles" protects the past from the future in an assertion, not an explanation. Might as well say, "In any sensible universe the future must be protected from the past, because the past can only be those things that led to now. It's circular reasoning, not an explanation.

[guzsaj]

@neoaeonian I agree, totally. And I feel most of his explanations are like this, unfortunately.... but he's very handsome.

[neoaeonian]

@guzsaj Re: but he's very handsome

Quantum mechanics, piece of cake.

Relativity, child's play.

But female tastes, call me clueless.

Still, if he's what it takes to have more women pursue science, then all the better. In the modern age we need all the scientifically educated people we can get.

So go Brian!

[transfoby]

@neoaeonian Fuck, he makes me hate 'science', specially for being a mouthpiece for CERN

[quidproquo2004]

@neoaeonian There's no escaping the pursuit of companionship; it colors all of our decisions.

[transfoby]

@guzsaj His explanations are shits...Oh, I miss Carl Sagan..

With his greasy hair, how can you say that this twitt is handsome??

[shethewriter]

young man on beach is smart and explains stuff. YUM.

[deathnova10]

@shethewriter he's 42. surprise!

[shethewriter]

@deathnova10 hm... still yum :D

[TwiztedSound]

@deathnova10

yep, in the new videos of him you can see a little bit of a gray hair.

[ProfessorND]

He is awesome! true inspiration :-)

[marcuelcajon]

I am starting to like this guy. No homo

[andrewrichmo]

I bet Brian Cox can put together Ikea furniture without the instructions

[TwiztedSound]

@andrewrichmo

i also do sometimes ;)

but i have no clue about physics^^

[constantlearn]

@andrewrichmo except for the IKEA stuff.. even he thinks " who the hell would build something this way"

[transfoby]

@andrewrichmo Hahahaha...that's the best comment so far. But I bet you that he actually doesn't tackle the 'small stuff'. He is just a boring mouthpiece.

[transfoby]

@andrewrichmo He really thinks people are idiots. None of his explanations makes sense.

[karadan100]

@transfoby He's actually dumbed down these theories so ordinary people can grasp them. Only idiots, like yourself, do not understand them.

[transfoby]

@karadan100 You are so funny. So, according to you 'ordinary' people are 'dumb'..how extraordinay :) He dumbed down his dumb theories to the point where he appears like a real dummy.

[karadan100]

@transfoby obvious troll is obvious.

[transfoby]

@andrewrichmo Yeah, he would be putting the furniture together while two people would be giving him instructions how to do it, just as he has been doing all along as CERN mouthpiece

[sugarcrushed]

I think this man could explain anything to me, even how to put up a flat pack shelving unit.

[jlmadill]

He's talking about the equation which describes intervals (distances) in spacetime. Namely, s^2 = r^2 - c^2*t^2. He's talking about that "-" sign on the time component, and the factor "c" on the time component. "s" is the interval in spacetime.

[kwantum0]

i don't get how negative distances protects causality...

[chrisofnottingham]

The 'interval' between two events is based on the difference between two particular quantities, rather than the sum. For the sum, all answers would be +ve. But with the difference, the answer can be +ve or -ve, depending on which of the two quantities is biggest.

The physical interpretation of -ve results is that one event definitely occurred first and thus could have caused the other. For +ve results, either event could be first but the distance between them rules out one causing the other.

[MalleusMaleficarum01]

i love it

[bustashite]

Actually it depends how you define mass.

[kwantum0]

well i don't think classical definitions should be used to define quantum mechanics. Photons do have momentum but no mass.

[bustashite]

Are you a physicist?

[kwantum0]

no, but im well informed

[PendleWarlock]

@kwantum0; how can you have momentum without mass? If your mass is 0 then your momentum must also be 0.

[kwantum0]

...in classical mechanics...

what im trying to say is that the momentum of a photon would be directly related to its energy (ie. the frequency), and this would be described by quantum mechanics.

[ecaepevolhturt]

In the physical world no object can have a mass of 0. Look at wave-particle duality.

[nightgh0st]

@ecaepevolhturt uhhh, yes.. i suggest you read "how can the human mind occur in the physical universe" by john anderson..

[pie2056]

very interesting. Sounds reasonable.

[1modernmessage]

I just wanted to TRY and write something sensible after reading that .The more i listen to Brain - the more i appear to be challenging my own personal thoughts ....at least i tried :P

[rosenrot2602]

And the sea? and the wind that play wiht you hair, where will go, all that beauty? where will go the sea, i full wiht my tears? and where we go? time is this moment im wirting those lines, to tell you, please, leave us to live here, we love we eart.

I WANT TO LIVE. PLEASE BRIAN, I WANT THIS LIFE.