Is the cosmos unravelling?

Something is wrong with the Universe. For decades, physicists have relied on a single elegant model to explain the behaviour of stars and planets and supernovae. But dark energy, the mysterious force driving the Universe apart, is much weaker than the maths says it should be – and brand new data hint it might be draining away over time.

What’s bubbling up is a version of reality that’s stranger and more unsettled than we ever imagined. Join us for an evening with Tony Padilla, theoretical physicist and lively scientific storyteller. Through music and conversation, we’ll traverse the twisted hearts of black holes, the torrid birth of the early Universe, and a cosmos whose ultimate end – be it a bang, crunch, fizzle or bounce – is suddenly and thrillingly up for grabs.

Artist to be announced soon.

Tony Padilla

Speaker

Tony Padilla is a leading theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Nottingham. He is also the Associate Director of the new Nottingham Centre of Gravity and has served as the chair of UK Cosmology for over a decade. In 2016, he and collaborator Nemanja Kaloper received the Buchalter Cosmology Prize for their work on the cosmological constant problem. Tony’s published work includes the 2022 book Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A Journey to the Edge of Physics, which explores the mysterious numbers that explain the universe. He is a recurring presenter on the YouTube series Numberphile where his videos have been viewed over 60 million times.

Tony can be found on Bluesky at @proftonypadilla.bsky.social

Sally Davies

Host

Sally is a writer and the editorial lead of the Sophia Club Live Philosophy program, with interests spanning philosophy, science, feminism and culture.