Videos to make you think more deeply about science. Explosive short films, full length talks from the world’s leading scientists and writers, and videos to challenge the way you look at the world.
The Royal Institution is a 200 year old independent charity based in London dedicated to connecting people with the world of science through events, education, and the CHRISTMAS LECTURES.
From The Royal Institution. Retired nurse Joy realised she could smell her husband’s Parkinson’s disease. Scientists are using her discovery to learn more about the disease and its diagnosis. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Find out how Joy first noticed the smell of Parkinson’s on her husband Les, and realised that she identified the…
From The Royal Institution. Neurosurgeon and stem cell biologist Mark Kotter reveals how he and his colleagues made some of the first major breakthroughs in cell therapy. Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/2hbS9dxYAEY Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Listen to our monthly podcast here: https://anchor.fm/ri-science-podcast Scientists are embarking on a biological version of the digital…
From The Royal Institution. What would happen if you fell into a black hole? Join James Beacham, particle physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, as he explores what happens when the fabric of reality – physical or societal – gets twisted beyond recognition. Watch the Q&A with James here: https://youtu.be/Q37oEB4bNSI Subscribe for regular…
From The Royal Institution. The new astronomy is based on gravitational waves, rather than lights and telescopes, and it enables scientists to observe events in our universe that otherwise would be forever buried in darkness. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Buy Gianfranco’s book ‘A tale of two universes’ here: https://geni.us/bertone Gianfranco Bertone is Professor…
From The Royal Institution. Despite the recent drive to talk more about mental health, we might be more confused about this topic than ever. Watch the Q&A with Lucy on this topic here: https://youtu.be/PgVMYeaKs0A Lucy’s book is available now: https://geni.us/j78KPq8 Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Conversations about mental health are now happening everywhere: in…
From The Royal Institution. By combining medicine and design thinking, we can solve problems faced by both patients and clinicians. Watch the Q&A for this talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CSW9j8lMJU Bon and Ellen’s book ‘Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health’ is out now: https://geni.us/X5GN Health design leads to efficient and easy to use…
From The Royal Institution. Ageing is not a biological inevitability. Scientists are studying every aspect of the body which could lead to treatments that could slow down, or even stop, the ageing process. In this talk by Andrew Steele, discover how understanding the scientific implications of ageing could lead to the greatest revolution in the…
From The Royal Institution. What are the unexplained riddles of the universe? Award-winning physicist Paul Davies talks you through the strange enigmas that have preoccupied cosmologists from ancient Greece to the present day. Paul’s book, ‘What’s Eating the Universe?’ is now available: https://geni.us/pauldavies Watch the Q&A with Paul here: https://youtu.be/IRHIGzWfG0Y Laying bare the audacious research…
From The Royal Institution. We can easily travel back and forth in space, but can we travel back and forth in time? Colin Stuart explains why time travel is real and happening all around us. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Colin Stuart is an award-winning astronomy author and speaker who has talked to over…
From The Royal Institution. Memories make us who we are, but how do we make memories? And what happens when the process goes wrong? Veronica O’Keane and James McConnachie explore the intricacies of the human brain. Veronica’s book is out now: https://geni.us/QXcAkBY Watch the Q&A with Veronica here: https://youtu.be/jByuagV2dUM Psychosis is often a misunderstood medical…
From The Royal Institution. For the last 50 years, new genetic techniques have transformed science – but is this a dream or a nightmare for humanity? Matthew’s new book ‘The Genetic Age: Our Perilous Quest To Edit Life’ is out now: https://geni.us/IooHt Watch the Q&A with Matthew here: https://youtu.be/t9h3IQL5vj4 New genetic techniques have transformed science,…
From The Royal Institution. How different does the invisible Universe look from the home we thought we knew? What does the cosmos have in store for us beyond the phenomena we can see, from black holes to supernovas? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/t8VUHQneRtc Matthew’s book ‘The Invisible Universe’ is available now: https://geni.us/bothwell Since the dawn of…
From The Royal Institution. From the big crunch or big rip to vacuum decay, Katie Mack explains the different ways in which physicists believe our universe might end. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Katie Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist and one of the most popular scientists on Twitter, with more than 420,000 followers. Throughout…
From The Royal Institution. Explore the physics that makes time something we can set, measure and know with physicist Chad Orzel as he discusses time from orbital motion and axial tilt to the quantum mechanics and relativity theory that gives us our ultra-precise atomic clocks. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/qIbSiU0arss Buy Chad’s book, ‘A Brief History…
From The Royal Institution. The aptly named IceCube collaboration, a huge telescope buried in the crystal clear ice of Antarctica, has been running for 10 years. It’s there to detect neutrinos, an almost undetectable particle. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/dWRlMEso_2E Join Jenni Adams as she discusses how these neutrinos could be the key to finding some…
From The Royal Institution. What is virtual reality? Is virtual reality genuine reality? And might we already be living in a virtual reality? David J Chalmers explores how technophilosophy can help us understand virtual worlds and and whether we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. Watch the Q&A: David’s latest book, ‘Reality+: Virtual…
From The Royal Institution. We have run out of science to talk about, so we’re pivoting the channel to science ASMR. We’re diving into the world of ASMR with dry ice, liquid nitrogen, a Hero’s steam engine and much more. What is the Leidenfrost effect? How does dry ice turn directly into carbon dioxide gas?…
From The Royal Institution. Spinosaurus and baryonyx were large dinosaurs with very big arms and claws. But what exactly do we know about them? What were they up to? How did they live? And what did they eat? Palaeontologist David Hone explores the latest discoveries about spinosaurus and baryonyx dinosaurs. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/nPEXQXVXMqo The…
From The Royal Institution. Discover how calculus, geometry and probability can help make life a bit easier for us all. Marcus du Sautoy explores how maths helps us solve problems like the Bridges of Königsburg, neural networks and the quickest way to save someone from drowning. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/8hRPW0m1k2A Marcus’s latest book "Thinking Better:…
From The Royal Institution. When lasers were invented over half a century ago they were dismissed as a “solution looking for a problem”. Since then lasers have come to revolutionise our lives through their practical applications. Today, scientists are using lasers to attempt to recreate fusion, the energy source of the sun, to create a…
From The Royal Institution. From algebra to geometry, maths is often about finding shortcuts to large problems. Marcus du Sautoy is the Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the Oxford University, a chair he holds jointly at the Department of Continuing Education and the Mathematical Institute. He is also a Professor…
From The Royal Institution. Why do things change colour, why do things burn, and most of all why do things explode? Andrew will take us on a journey through the exciting, confusing and sometimes explosive world of chemical changes. Andrew Szydlo is a chemist and secondary school teacher at Highgate School, well-loved by pupils and…
From The Royal Institution. The race to explore space is speeding up, Chris Impey looks at the astronomy and technology to bring people to the last frontier. Chris’ new book "Beyond: Our Future in Space" is available now: https://geni.us/futureinspace Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/cUVXgn3y5sQ From private sector efforts led by SpaceX and Virgin Galactic to a…
From The Royal Institution. The search for a theory of everything spans centuries, from Kepler, Galileo and Newton, to Faraday and Maxwell, to Einstein, Bohr, Dirac, and C.N.Yang, to recent advances in superstring theory. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/FB7aeEevo3g This event is in collaboration with the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences. To many people, the phrase…
From The Royal Institution. Is there life on other planets? And how would we know if our galaxy had been observed by intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms? Paul’s new book ‘What’s Eating the Universe’ is out now: https://geni.us/pauldavies Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling science author. He has published about 30 books and…
From The Royal Institution. From your vehicle tyres gripping the road to the Post-it note in your desk drawer to the non-stick pan on your stove the she science of stickiness is all around us. Laurie’s book "Sitcky" is out now: https://geni.us/winkless Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/a3wdXf-tWT0 Laurie Winkless is a writer, physicist and sci-comm consultant…
From The Royal Institution. Viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa all want to infect your body and don’t mind if they kill you so long as you pass on the infection. John’s book "Infectious" is out now: https://geni.us/infectious Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/P6x0QseBo_k John Tregoning is reader in respiratory infections at Imperial College London. His research focuses…
From The Royal Institution. From the battery to the electric motor (which celebrates its 200 year anniversary in 2021), breakthroughs made in previous centuries continue to inform our technology today. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/jJ8lz2PbJN8 This video is generously supported by The Faraday Institution. Today, we take the easy availability of electric power for granted. From…
From The Royal Institution. What is nuclear fusion, and could it really help combat the climate emergency? Arthur’s new book "The Star Builders" is available now: https://geni.us/CskCc Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/fDOY0_HoILo Arthur Turrell takes us on a thrilling tour of one of the greatest technological and scientific challenges humanity has ever undertaken: reproducing the power…
From The Royal Institution. Resurrecting dinosaurs and designer humans might be in the future of genetic engineering, but humans have been modifying nature for a surprisingly long time through hunting, domesticating, polluting, hybridising, conserving and genetically modifying organisms. Beth’s book "Life as We Made It" is available now – https://geni.us/beth Beth Shapiro is an American…
From The Royal Institution. Since their invention, computers have become faster and faster, as a result of our ability to increase the number of transistors on a processor chip. However, we are now approaching the limits of this electronic technology. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/hyd3lyGL4o0 Processors can now contain tiny lasers and light detectors, allowing them…
From The Royal Institution. Helping relatives is a common evolutionary trait, but there are some species that also help non-relatives and even strangers. What can the cleaner wrasse tell us about this type of cooperation? Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe — A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these…
From The Royal Institution. How did a thirteenth-century friar’s search for simplicity lead to the emergence of the modern world? Johnjoe’s latest book "Life is Simple" is available now: https://geni.us/johnjoemcfadden Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/FO4mP9X5hu8 Johnjoe McFadden tells the story of the heretical friar William of Occam, who first articulated the principle that the best answer…
From The Royal Institution. Most outbreaks of diseases area localised events but some such as Black Death, chikungunya and the swine flu break the norm and become worldwide pandemics. How do they travel around the world and how do scientists map them? Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe — A very special thank you to…
From The Royal Institution. Where do new viruses come from and how do they end up infecting humans? One way this can happen is via zoonosis – when a disease jumps from an animal to a human via a spillover event. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe — A very special thank you to our…
From The Royal Institution. From the cosmic microwave background to Feynman diagrams – what are the underlying rules that work to create patterns of action, force and consequence that make up our universe? Brian’s new book "Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe" is available now: https://geni.us/clegg Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/RZB95znAGRE Brian Clegg will explore the…
From The Royal Institution. Earth isn’t the only planet to harbour volcanoes. In fact, the Solar System, and probably the entire Universe, is littered with them. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/5vOYA-mmfGo Natalie’s new book "Fire and Ice" is available now: https://geni.us/starkey Natalie Starkey is a geologist and cosmochemist. Over the course of her doctorate at Edinburgh…
From The Royal Institution. How does our brain translate visual signals into a conscious experience? Watch Anil’s talk on the same topic: https://youtu.be/qXcH26M7PQM Anil’s new book "Being You" is available now: https://geni.us/anil Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Co-Director of the Sackler Centre…
From The Royal Institution. Sir Roger Penrose is a mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate whose work spans impossible triangles and tilings that bear his name to the mathematical underpinnings of black holes. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/HqlB_qfaXIg Sir Roger Penrose Kt OM FRS is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor at Oxford. He won the Nobel Prize in…
From The Royal Institution. How does our biology give rise to the experience of consciousness? Anil’s new book "Being You" is available now: https://geni.us/anil Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/JZS39CaODTs Anil Seth argues, using innovative combinations of theory and experiment, that our brains are prediction machines inventing our world and correcting our mistakes by the microsecond. Anil’s…
From The Royal Institution. Are viruses alive or are they lifeless packages of protein and nucleic acid? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/-LUQTjdHYNo Carl’s book "Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive" is available now – https://geni.us/zimmer Countless scientists around the world study life, and yet they can’t really agree on what it…
From The Royal Institution. What is a black hole and how does it come into being? Amélie Saintonge takes us on a lightspeed tour of these fascinating celestial giants. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/ZaB7fni6hGY Black holes are one of the strangest and most fascinating things in the universe. They are massively heavy, with gravity so strong…
From The Royal Institution. Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder and cardiologist Rohin Francis discuss the spaces where their fields of study overlap. Subscribe to Sabine – https://www.youtube.com/c/SabineHossenfelder Subscribe to Rohin – https://www.youtube.com/c/MedlifeCrisis Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe — A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: efkinel lo,…
From The Royal Institution. In the third lecture of the 2020 Christmas Lectures, environmental scientist Tara Shine demonstrates how Earth produces a never-ending supply of oxygen – the raw material for all complex life. Watch more Christmas Lectures: http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_term=description Dr Tara Shine is an expert in the field of climate change and climate justice, with…
From The Royal Institution. How has the public trust in government, healthcare authorities and scientists changed and how well has the science of the pandemic been presented by the media, politicians, and scientists themselves? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/-LUQTjdHYNo The Covid-19 pandemic bought science to the forefront of news and public perception. As the crisis moves…
From The Royal Institution. In the second lecture of the 2020 Christmas Lectures, physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski unpicks the Earth’s heating and plumbing systems, showing how shifting ocean water creates an engine that distributes heat and nutrients around our planet. Watch more Christmas Lectures: http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_term=description Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer with…
From The Royal Institution. Humans have changed their consciousness with plants for millennia; from the legally and socially acceptable consumption of coffee and tea to plants that are criminalised, such as the opium poppy. Michael’s book "This is Your Mind On Plants" is available now: https://geni.us/pollan Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/BqhWbmHqe0M In Michael Pollan’s new book,…
From The Royal Institution. In the first lecture of the 2020 Christmas Lectures, geologist Chris Jackson shows us how the planet’s oldest rocks and fossils tell a story of radical climate changes throughout history and how the Earth’s finely balanced tectonic system – volcanoes – has controlled the level of carbon dioxide in the air.…
From The Royal Institution.
From The Royal Institution. What is matter really made of? How does the stuff around us escape annihilation in the fearsome heat of the Big Bang? And will we ever be able to understand the very first moments of our universe? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/RlilcMT-RaY Harry’s book "How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch"…
From The Royal Institution. Who has the power to make meaningful change in the climate crisis? Do we require strict top-down action from government, business and other leaders or can the climate crisis best solved with a bottom-up grassroots approach? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/HO6_lV3giH0 This event is part of our new series on the climate…
From The Royal Institution. Beronda Montgomery explores how plants are masters of adaption and experience sensations that don’t require eyes or ears. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/79yWFkO6uxI Beronda’s book "Lessons from Plants" is available now: https://geni.us/04BuAT We know that plants are important. They maintain our atmosphere, nourish other living organisms and benefit us psychologically by creating…
From The Royal Institution. If evolution is all about competition, how did humans and other animals evolve to cooperate? Nichola’s book "The Social Instinct" is available now: https://geni.us/socialinstinct Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/fpq_gLWxGso Nichola Raihani illuminates the role of cooperation in the human story: why we live in families, why women experience the menopause and why…
From The Royal Institution. As the climate has heated over the last century, species extinction has rapidly accelerated. However, protecting biodiversity can help us mitigate and adapt to climate change. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/AtveK2rIFSI From increased forest fires to rising sea levels, flora, fauna and fungi are all under threat from the effects of human-induced…
From The Royal Institution. On 17 and 18 October 1831, Michael Faraday developed the first-ever electric generator. Watch the demo: as the magnet moves, the lines of magnetic force repeatedly intersect with the wire, exciting the electrons in the wire and generating electrical current 💡 Virtually all electric power is produced using Faraday’s principles, whether…
From The Royal Institution. Many people reject scientific expertise and prefer ideology to facts. Lee McIntyre argues that anyone can and should fight back against science deniers. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/2jTiXCLzMv4 Lee’s book "How to Talk to a Science Denier" is out now: https://geni.us/leemcintyre “Climate change is a hoax—and so is coronavirus.” “Vaccines are bad…