The Life Scientific: Catherine Heymans

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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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 Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:07.3	Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron.
0:10.5	Evil genius.
0:11.6	He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it.
0:15.5	That's like hiding at your own funeral.
0:17.1	Yeah, a big, great gig.
0:18.6	I'm Russell Kane.
0:19.6	Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'll say that at some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to Evil Genius on BBC Sounds.
0:44.1	Hello, they say you can't go wrong opening with a joke. So here goes. Einstein developed a theory about space, and it was about time to... Bo bumsch. Okay, my guest is laughing. More likely,
0:52.6	the listeners are groaning, but my attempt at physics humour is in honour of today's guest,
0:57.7	an astrophysicist who understands the power of comedy to make science accessible.
1:02.6	Catherine Hamans is a professor at the University of Edinburgh
1:05.0	and the current Astronomer Royal for Scotland,
1:08.1	indeed the first woman to take on that role in its 200-year history.
1:12.6	Catherine studies dark matter and dark energy, those mysterious ingredients of the cosmos
1:17.9	that, to the best of our current understanding, make up about 95% of everything that exists.
1:24.5	Her work has delivered some of the most detailed information we have about the
1:28.2	dark universe, including actual pictures of dark matter. No mean feat, since the stuff is invisible.
1:35.2	On top of her academic achievements, Catherine is also committed to making science accessible to all,
1:40.1	not least by taking an astronomy-themed comedy show to the Edinburgh Festival and beyond.
1:45.9	Proof, if any, were needed, that I should leave further attempts at humour to her.
1:50.5	Professor Catherine Heymans, welcome to the Life Scientific.
	...

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