Catherine Heymans on the lighter side of the dark universe

The Life Scientific

BBC

Technology, Personal Journals, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever considered the lighter side of dark matter? Comedy has proved an unexpectedly succesful way to engage people with science - as today's guest knows first-hand.

Astrophysicist Catherine Heymans is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh and the current Astronomer Royal for Scotland. She’s spent her career studying dark matter and dark energy: the mysterious ingredients that make up an estimated 95% of our cosmos, but which we still know surprisingly little about. Using increasingly powerful telescopes, both on earth and in space, Catherine has spent years building detailed maps of dark matter - even to the extent of capturing rare images of this mysterious cosmic component.

On top of her research achievements, she's committed to making science accessible to all; not least by taking an astronomy-themed comedy show to the Edinburgh Festival and beyond.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Catherine talks about her passion for sharing the joys of astrophysics - and reveals how health challenges over the last few years have forced her to readdress her career, her ambitions and even her sense of self...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Produced by Lucy Taylor

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, podcast fan.
0:03.0	Consider this your invite to the UK's biggest podcasting party.
0:06.7	We're heading to Sheffield from the 4th to the 6th of July
0:09.0	for the BBC Sounds Fringe at the Crossed Wires Festival.
0:12.8	We'll be joined by some of the biggest names in podcasting,
0:15.3	including Sarah Cox, Charlie Hedges, Russell Kane,
0:18.4	and some bloke called Greg James doing his Radio 4 show called
0:22.1	Rewinder. You can watch live shows of your favourite podcasts, and the best part is free. To book your free
0:28.8	tickets, go to crossedwires.com, forward slash fringe. You're about to listen to the latest series
0:35.0	of the Life Scientific. Episodes will be released weekly wherever you get your podcasts.
0:40.6	But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episodes 28 days before anywhere else, first on BBC Sounds.
0:50.8	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:54.7	Hello, they say you can't go wrong opening with a joke.
0:58.2	So here goes.
0:59.6	Einstein developed a theory about space, and it was about time, too.
1:04.6	Bo bumsch.
1:06.6	Okay, my guest is laughing.
1:08.7	More likely the listeners are groaning,
1:10.5	but my attempt at physics humour is in honour of today's guest,
1:14.4	an astrophysicist who understands the power of comedy to make science accessible.
1:19.4	Catherine Hamans is a professor at the University of Edinburgh
1:21.7	and the current Astronomer Royal for Scotland,
	...

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