In the beginning there was God AND the Big Bang (well, maybe, says top scientist)

Published on Tuesday 10 April 2007 00:05

A LEADING expert on the Big Bang theory of creation has said he admires people who believe in God and has not ruled out His existence himself.

Dr Brian Cox, who was the science adviser for Danny Boyle's latest movie Sunshine, was speaking yesterday while in the capital to give a talk at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

The renowned scientist, whose unique career path once led him to play keyboards for Nineties pop group D:Ream, also revealed the main character in Boyle's sci-fi blockbuster was loosely based on him.

Despite his scientific beliefs, he says it is impossible to rule out the existence of a greater being, and he admires people with strong religious beliefs.

He said: "Scientists should be able to draw a line between things we do and don't know - they should be comfortable in doing that. We can't rule anything out as being impossible, including the existence of God or a greater being.

"It has been proven without question that the world was created more than 12,000 years ago, contrary to what is written in the Bible. That doesn't mean there isn't a possibility God was in existence at the time of the Big Bang, however.

"I respect people who have strong religious beliefs because, like scientists, they also have a great interest in the world."

Dr Cox told how he had been approached by Trainspotting director Boyle to be the science adviser for Sunshine.

The 39-year-old scientist said: "Danny

wanted me to be an adviser to the actors on how scientists would perform in certain situations and explain things to them in layman's terms.

"Before I started working with him, Danny thought the physicist in the film, Capa, may be too young. When he saw me he changed his mind, though, and the role played by Cillian Murphy was loosely based on me.

"I have said to Cillian that he should really be giving me 10 per cent of his fee for the movie."

Dr Cox's involvement with Sunshine is not his first taste of showbusiness, having, in fact, had a No.1 single with D:Ream in the Nineties.

Things Can Only Get Better was adopted as Labour's theme for the 1997 general election.

Dr Cox's talk at the science festival yesterday, The Big Bang Experiment, concerned the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is set up at CERN, the particle physics centre, in Geneva.

The LHC is 27km long and consists of two pipes. Protons are sent in opposite directions and collide, to recreate the conditions present less than a billionth of a second after the Big Bang.

Dr Cox said: "Basically, whatever went on a billionth of a second after the Universe began, you can sit there and watch it."

Dr Cox is confident that the work at CERN will soon "open up a can of worms" as more is discovered about what "makes us, us".