• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Professor Brian Cox gave blunt answer after being asked if he thinks aliens exist

Home> News> Science

Published 19:16 15 May 2024 GMT+1

Professor Brian Cox gave blunt answer after being asked if he thinks aliens exist

He was pretty direct about the search for aliens, and what it means for us

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

To paraphrase a wise man, either we're alone in the universe or we aren't and both possibilities are equally terrifying.

At the moment we haven't had contact with extra-terrestrial life and there might be some reasons for that.

Some scientists believe that we will one day have our transmissions answered by alien life, but others think that even if there are aliens who could visit us they'd most likely be dead by now.

Advert

Basically, any civilisation with the technology to zoom across the galaxy and pop down to Earth for a visit also has the technology to wipe itself out on a catastrophic scale.

But whether they're on the way or not, Professor Brian Cox seems sceptical about the possibility of aliens even existing.

"Oh damn, I stood right in front of the Earthlings camera. I hope their governments cover up my existence." (Getty Stock Photo)
"Oh damn, I stood right in front of the Earthlings camera. I hope their governments cover up my existence." (Getty Stock Photo)

He once told The Joe Rogan Experience that he came down into the camp of thinking aliens probably didn't exist, meaning we're all alone in our galaxy.

He said: "I tend to restrict myself to the galaxy, as I do think it's possible that at the moment that there is just one civilisation in the Milky Way, and that's us.

Advert

"And I think that's important, and this goes back to astronomy and cosmology being the framework for within which you have to think, if you're looking for meaning or how we should behave even.

"Imagine that we're the only place where there is intelligence in this galaxy - how should we behave?

"Notwithstanding we're tiny and fragile things and insignificant physically, should we consider ourselves extremely valuable in that respect? There's nowhere else where 'meaning' exists in the Milky Way."

Professor Cox went on to explain that the possible existence of aliens wasn't always discussed, and that there were some philosophical angles to the question.

Professor Brian Cox seems to think we're alone in the universe. (David Levenson/Getty Images)
Professor Brian Cox seems to think we're alone in the universe. (David Levenson/Getty Images)

Advert

"It's one of those things scientists don't talk about very much, what is self evidently true is that meaning exists here because it means something to us," he said of the search for aliens being partly a search for ourselves.

"But I think it is a local and temporary phenomenon, I think it emerges from a configuration of atoms, which is what we are, we're nothing more than that - we're a very rare configuration of atoms.

"So that means we are the only island of meaning in the galaxy."

So there you have it folks, aliens possibly aren't real and we're all alone on this tiny rock in the vast and infinite emptiness of space.

Sleep tight.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube / JRE Clips / Getty Stock Photo

Topics: Aliens, Space, Brian Cox, Science

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

20 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • 20 mins ago

    Five conditions to be eligible for £100,000,000 Mastercard payout as Martin Lewis MSE issues update

    Martin Lewis, you've done it again, you sweet prince

    News
  • an hour ago

    Dad left with broken neck on Benidorm holiday after complete stranger's 'joke' goes horribly wrong

    Martin Bullen was at a pool party in Benidorm when disaster struck

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Men speak out on experience of 'Ozempic penis' as urologist explains true reality of the side effect

    People have revealed if 'Ozempic penis' is real or not, following advice from health experts

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Brit thrown in Turkish jail after 'biggest mistake of her life' celebrating boyfriend's Turkey teeth

    British mum Georgia Harrison was arrested alongside her partner in Turkey on 7 May

    News
  • Professor Brian Cox explains why he thinks we still haven't heard from aliens
  • Professor Brian Cox gives haunting answer about the one thing in the universe that 'keeps him up at night'
  • Professor Brian Cox has incredibly bleak prediction for future of human life
  • Professor Brian Cox gave simple response to shut down Flat Earth theory in best way possible