07/07/2026
James May having one of the all-time great Twitter interactions with Professor Brian Cox. š
It all started when Brian Cox mentioned that the total mass of the observable universe could be expressed as the equivalent of around 5 Ć 10āµā“ pints of bitter.
James May then couldnāt resist asking one of the most ridiculous questions imaginable. He asked Professor Cox that if heād drunk an average of 12 pints of bitter a week since 1980, what percentage of the observable universeās total mass had passed through his body.
Rather than ignoring it, Brian actually worked it out. He estimated James had consumed around 30,000 pints, adding that it equated to roughly 70,000 cubic light secondsā worth of the universe.
Jamesā reply was perfect in its simplicity:
āThanks. Thatās what I thought.ā
Itās such a brilliant exchange because itās exactly what youād expect from the pair of them. James comes up with an absurdly specific question, Brian gives it a genuine scientific answer, and James responds as though heād simply had a minor curiosity confirmed.š
