London, June 21 Tom Hanks has revealed he is such a space geek that he is willing to put his hand into a particle accelerator, also known as atom smasher.

The actor along with Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard appeared at CERN, the particle physics laboratory in Switzerland, for the promotion of their new film Angels and Demons.

The Apollo 13 star was asked if he would like to roll up his sleeves and crash some hadrons together to which he replied: "I will stick my hand into the particle accelerator when it starts. I'm willing to sacrifice my hand," reports New Scientist.

Hanks, who apparently wanted to be an astronaut, was also asked if films such as Apollo 13 and Angels and Demons helped boost scientific understanding among young people.

He said: "Don't discount the ability of a movie to make something mundane look cool. There are kids out there who, after they see this movie, will go into their science class and say: "Is this anything like that particle accelerator they showed in Angels and Demons?" The teacher will roll their eyes and say: "Yes, in fact it is very much like that." (ANI)