Celebrity beer james may Professor Brian Cox
Brian Cox worked out the mass of the observable Universe in units we can all relate to and James May’s magnificent follow-up took it to a whole new level
You don’t have to entirely understand what’s being discussed here to appreciate it, and thank goodness for that.
It all began – sort of – with a discussion about how many stars there are in the observable Universe.
I am completely perplexed here. Avogadro's number is set by convention. It could just a easily be six or eleventy bazillion. https://t.co/EiHrTZYMuC
— Will Kinney (@WKCosmo) June 29, 2026
We know the number of stars in the observable universe? That sounds like nonsense.
— Thomas (@ThStoneh) June 29, 2026
The radius of the observable universe is about 40 billion light years, which gives a volume of 2.6e32 cubic light years. The density of baryons in the universe is 1.8e-10 solar masses per cubic light year, so that's about 5e22 solar masses of baryons in the observable universe.… https://t.co/B86SLIaoqW
— Will Kinney (@WKCosmo) June 29, 2026
At which point the great man, Professor Brian Cox, intervened, to reveal he had once calculated the mass of the observable Universe in units to which we can all relate.
I once calculated that the mass of the observable Universe, including the contribution from dark energy, is equivalent to 5 x 10^54 pints of bitter.
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) June 29, 2026
Which was good enough already, you might think, but it fell to James May to take it to a whole new level.
Dear Prof. Cox,
If I have drunk, on average, 12 pints of bitter per week since 1980, what percentage of the observable universe’s total mass has passed through my penis? https://t.co/OSdD4evR2q— James May (@MrJamesMay) June 30, 2026
And did the good prof reply? Of course he did!
@grok please calculate the percentage of the observable universe's total mass which has passed through this man's penis.
— Pastry Enthusiast 🏴 (@pastry_enthus) June 30, 2026
Time gentlemen, please.
"What you working on Bri?"
*hides envelope*
"Nothing"— Ed Greenall (@edgreenall) June 30, 2026
I'd imagine its had an effect on Uranus too
— Paul Wilson 💙 (@paulthesitter) June 30, 2026
— Sicky Sonny (@sickysonny) June 30, 2026
So is this the Cosmic Beer Equation?
The % of observable universe mass that has passed through your penis after averaging 12 pints of bitter/week since 1980:
p = (12 × 2426 weeks / 5×10^54) × 100 ≈ 5.82 × 10^{-49}%
That’s 0.000… (48 zeros after the decimal)…582%…
— nick3d (@nickdouz) June 30, 2026
Christ, I must have destroyed entire galaxies in my 20s, every night out was like the death star coming to town.
I also understand none of this science 🤣
— Simon (@redfivemodels on Bluesky) (@RedFiveModels) June 30, 2026
We’re with this person.
Two of the most iconic British men alive today having a conversation about bitter, piss & space all in one. Never am I deleting this app man😂😭
— Vex (@VexxoSpeaks) June 30, 2026
And this person.
This thread with @MrJamesMay and @ProfBrianCox is Brilliant. Every bloke is now trying to calculate the drink to pee to universe ration. These are the key things we need to know. 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/Ni4NO0437Z
— Ian Pegg (@HistoryPegg) June 30, 2026
READ MORE
AND EVEN MORE!
Source @MrJamesMay