said President of the Royal Society Lord Martin Rees:- gaining a full understanding of how the universe works might not be possible "simply because they're beyond human brains."

A top British scientist says we may never know all the secrets of the universe because, quite simply, we're just not smart enough.

"Just as Einstein's ideas would baffle a chimpanzee," said President of the Royal Society Lord Martin Rees, gaining a full understanding of how the universe works might not be possible "simply because they're beyond human brains."

"Just as a fish may be barely aware of he medium in which it lives and swims, so the microstructure of empty space could be far too complex for unaided human brains."

Lord Rees made the comments to the Sunday Times in London in response to the fact that scientists have been yet unable to create a unifying theory to describe how the universe works.

He suggests that the idea of multiple parallel universes, human consciousness and the very idea of reality may be simply beyond our understanding.

It's as if a fish is swimming in one pond, completely unaware that thousands of other ponds exist mere meters away from it. Understanding that those ponds even exist, let alone understanding their connection to the original pond, is understandably beyond the comprehension of a single fish.

Similarly, that parallel universes could exist in up to 11 dimensions - while humanity is restricted to three spatial dimensions and time - is beyond human understanding.

"In theory, there could be another entire universe less than a millimetre away from us, but we are oblivious to it because that millimetre is measured in a fourth spatial dimension and we are imprisoned in just three," he said in the interview.