Talk: How to Design a Universe

Join Scotland’s Astronomer Royal, Professor Catherine Heymans, as she explores the nature of reality, from quantum physics to the dark Universe, and asks whether humanity could ever create a virtual universe as rich and diverse as our own.Scotland’s Astronomer Royal, Professor Catherine Heymans, is having an existential crisis! Ever since her son asked, “Could we be living inside a computer game?” she’s been questioning everything she sees.

Throwing all the science that she knows at the problem, Catherine explores whether humanity could ever create a virtual universe as rich and diverse as our own.

She unpacks the rules that appear to govern our existence as we journey from the quirky quantum world up into the wild and wonderful dark Universe.

Will technology ever be able to replicate the complexity of life? Could consciousness be coded? Heymans invites you to reconsider what it means to be real.