Is Dark Energy Getting Weaker?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

Astronomers have new evidence, which could change what we understand about the expansion of the universe. Carlos Frenk, Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics at Durham University gives us his take on whether the dark energy pushing our universe apart is getting weaker.

With the Turing Prize, the Nobel Prize and now this week the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering under his belt, Geoffrey Hinton is known for his pioneering work on AI. And, since leaving a job at Google in 2023, for his warnings that AI could bring about the end of humanity. Tom Whipple speaks to Geoffrey about the science of super intelligence.

And Senior physics reporter at Nature Lizzie Gibney brings us her take on the new science that matters this week.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Tom Whipple Producer: Clare Salisbury Content Producer: Ella Hubber Assistant Producers: Jonathan Blackwell & Tim Dodd Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
0:07.3	Hello, I'm Kimberly Wilson. I'm a psychologist, and in my new podcast, Complex, I'll be your guide
0:14.4	through all the information and misinformation that's out there about mental health.
0:19.0	I'm joined by expert guests covering topics from people
0:22.5	pleasing to perfectionism, burnout to empathy, to find tangible advice so we can understand
0:28.5	ourselves a little better. Complex with me, Kimberly Wilson. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:35.7	Hello and welcome to BBC Inside Science from the World Service.
0:40.8	I'm Tom Whipple.
0:42.5	This week, will the universe have an end date?
0:46.1	Will humanity's end date come rather sooner than we think?
0:50.0	And just what exactly are the orcas up to?
0:54.4	I'll be joined by Lizzie Gibney, AI and physics reporter at Nature. Hi, Lizzie.
0:58.2	Hello, Tom. Thanks for having me. Hi, Lizzie. What have you got coming up for us?
1:01.4	Ooh, some ancient maps, some tiny T-Rexes and, yes, some very bloodthirsty whales.
1:08.2	Brilliant. Well, before the bloodthirsty wales, we start with something positive.
1:12.9	It is just possible that all life, all thought, all that we've ever loved and created and
1:18.2	ever will create and love, will not, after all, end in a frozen, ever-expanding universe of
1:25.1	meaninglessness. Instead, there are a scattering of new results,
1:29.1	including a new study from South Korea, that suggests it may just be crushed together in a
1:34.5	crunch of unimaginable ferocity instead. The reason for this unexpected boon is tentative evidence
1:41.2	that dark energy, a mysterious substance that pushes the universe apart,
1:46.0	is changing. And with it, so too, is the expansion of the universe. If true, it is a huge challenge
	...

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