Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

Beware!

Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1973: The Languages of Animals

Be mine

Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1973: The Languages of Animals

Parents and Children

Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1973: The Languages of Animals

Simple Signs and Complicated Communications

The fourth lecture in the series, 'Simple Signs and Complicated Communications', is considered lost, as there is no know

Foreign Languages

Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1973: The Languages of Animals

Human Language

Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1973: The Languages of Animals

The Earth as a Planet

The Outer Solar System and Life

The History of Mars

Mars before Viking

Mars after Viking

Planetary Systems beyond our Sun

Linking and Knotting

The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1978: Mathematics into Pictures

Numbers and Geometry

The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1978: Mathematics into Pictures

Infinity and Perspective

The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1978: Mathematics into Pictures

Games and Evolution

The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1978: Mathematics into Pictures

Waves and Music

The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1978: Mathematics into Pictures

Catastrophe and Psychology

The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1978: Mathematics into Pictures

Waking Up in the Universe

Dawkins discusses the amazing capabilities of the human body and contrasts these with the limited capabilities of comput

Designed and Designoid Objects

Dawkins' second lecture of the series examines the problem of design. He presents the audience with a number of simple o

Climbing Mount Improbable

Dawkins starts the lecture coming in with a stick insect on his hand. He describes with how much details such a being im

The Ultraviolet Garden

Dawkins begins by relating the story of asking a little girl "what she thought flowers were 'for'." Her response is anth

The Genesis of Purpose

Dawkins opens by talking how organisms “grow up” to understand the universe around them, which requires certain appa

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 1

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 2

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 3

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 4

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 5

Planet Earth, An Explorers Guide

Planet Earth, An Explorers Guide

Planet Earth, An Explorers Guide

Planet Earth, An Explorers Guide

Planet Earth, An Explorers Guide

The History in our Bones

The History in our Bones

The History in our Bones

The History in our Bones - Innovations And Novelty

The History in our Bones - Feet On The Ground, Head In The Stars - The History Of Man

Sense and Sensitivity

In the first of her lectures, Nancy Rothwell reveals how we are endowed with a multitude of sensors that help us regulat

Fats and Figures

In her second lecture, Nancy Rothwell explores how much energy is in the different foods we eat, and what happens to our

Chilling Out

In the third of her Christmas Lectures, Nancy Rothwell reveals how humans and animals alike have evolved to keep their b

Times of Our Lives

In her fourth lecture, Nancy Rothwell explores how our bodies and those of animals are trained by sunlight. From summer

Pushing the Limits

In her final Christmas Lecture, Nancy Rothwell reveals some of the incredible adaptations that animals have evolved to c

Blast Off

Mission to Mars

Planet Patrol

Collision Course

Anybody Out There?

Live from Mars

Ice People

Ice Life

Ice World

The Ape That Cooks

What did you have for your Christmas dinner? The traditional turkey? A vegetarian meal? And how did the turkey tradition

Yuck or Yummy?

What is your favourite food? What are the things you wouldn't touch with a barge pole? Food may be fuel, but it's also s

You Are What You Eat

Our bodies are made from the food we have eaten during our lifetime. To survive and grow we need to eat enough of each o

When Food Goes Wrong

We uncover the hidden and not so hidden dangers that might lurk in our food and explode some of the myths that surround

Food for the Future

Most of us get enough to eat, but roughly 800 million people in the world go hungry every day. The world's population is

The Curious Incident of the Never-ending Numbers

The secret life of numbers has fascinated people ever since humans learned to count. Join Marcus as he investigates wher

The Story of the Elusive Shapes

Ever wondered why bubbles are always round even if you blow them with a square frame? Or why footballs are made out of p

The Secret of the Winning Streak

Place your bets as we use maths to win at games. Logic is an important part of playing games and mathematics can help yo

The Case of the Uncrackable Code

From the Caesar Cipher to the Da Vinci Code, people have been fascinated by secret messages. The mathematics of codes le

The Quest to Predict the Future

Mathematics is the ultimate fortune teller. It can predict if a new plane design will make it off the ground. It can pla

Peak Performance

Dr Montgomery examines the theme of respiration. Just like racing car engines, humans use oxygen to burn fuels and relea

Completely Stuffed

Tonight’s lecture examines how food is processed and used by our cells. The food we eat contains the fuel we need to p

Grilled and Chilled

How the body copes with extremes of temperature. Humans live in some extraordinary places, from the middle of the Sahara

Fight, Flight and Fright

The focus of tonight’s presentation is stress and exertion. When faced with a threat like the approach of a predator,

Luck, Genes and Stupidity

Tonight’s presentation examines the part genetics has to play in our ability to survive. Is everyone’s ability to su

Breaking the Speed Limit

Professor Bishop goes on a fascinating exploration of the extraordinary world of the silicon chip and attempts to answer

Chips with Everything

In this lecture, Professor Bishop reveals state-of the-art advancements in computer interaction, including new touch-scr

The Ghost In The Machine

Computers are the most versatile machines ever invented, and the same piece of hardware can be used for thousands of dif

Untangling the Web

In this lecture, Chris Bishop untangles some of the mysteries of the web. He reveals one of the most surprising results

Digital Intelligence

In the last of this year’s lectures, Chris Bishop looks at one of the great frontiers of computer science. He explains

Plant Wars

In this years Royal Institution Christmas Lectures ecologist Professor Sue Hartley - only the fourth woman to present th

The Animals Strike Back

Ecologist Professor Sue Hartley continues to show how the epic 300-million-year war between plants and animals has shape

Talking Trees

Can a plant, something without a mouth, ears or eyes, communicate? Yes! Plants do communicate but not in ways that are

Dangerous to Delicious

Lunch anyone? Human agriculture has usually tried to disarm plant defences and increase plant nutrient content. Our dom

Weapons of the Future

With changing climate it is difficult to predict who will win the 300 million year war. What has gone wrong when herbivo

Why Elephants Can't Dance

How can a hamster survive falling from the top of a skyscraper, ants carry over 100 times their own body weight and geck

Why Chocolate Melts and Jet Engines Don't

Dr Mark Miodownik zooms into the microscopic world beneath our fingertips. In this unfamiliar landscape, strange forces

Why Mountains Are So Small

Why is the tallest building on earth less than half a mile high? Why don't we have mountains as tall as those on Mars?

What's in Your Head?

Bruce Hood measures the brain's nerve cells in action, reads someone's mind from 100 miles away, and reveals how the bra

Who's in Charge Here Anyway?

Professor Bruce Hood tests the limits of the memory, finding out how humans learn, how the brain takes shortcuts and why

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

With a little help from a baby, a robot and a magician, Professor Bruce Hood uncovers what makes us truly human in this

Air: The Elixir of Life

The medieval alchemists made elements react to create magnificent shows, enthralling kings and commoners alike, but thei

Water: The Fountain of Youth

Medieval alchemists wrote of a mysterious fountain of youth, whose waters could rejuvenate anyone who drank them. But ca

Earth: The Philosopher's Stone

For centuries alchemists have tried to turn base metals into gold. But is such a feat even possible? In the final Christ

Where Do I Come From?

One of the greatest conundrums of life is how we emerge from a single cell into a walking, talking, multi-trillion-celle

Am I a Mutant?

In the second of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford unravels this mystery

Could I Live Forever?

In this year's final Christmas Lecture, Dr Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford, tackles a question that has in

The Light Bulb Moment

Inspired by fellow Geordie inventor Joseph Swan, Prof Danielle George attempts to play a computer game on the windows of

Making Contact

Inspired by Alexander Graham Bell, Prof Danielle George attempts to beam a special guest into the theatre via hologram,

A New Revolution

Inspired by the Royal Institution’s very own Michael Faraday, Prof Danielle George attempts to use simple motors to co

Lift Off!

In the first lecture, Kevin explores and probes second by second what it takes to 'lift off' into space. With Tim only d

Life in Orbit

In the second lecture, Kevin explores life in orbit on board the International Space Station. As Tim settles in to his n

The Next Frontier

In the third and final lecture, Kevin explores the the next frontier of human space travel. Live from the Station hurtli

Let There Be Light!

Saiful Islam talks about how to generate and store energy. To begin, Saiful investigates how to generate energy without

People Power

Saiful Islam investigates how humans as living machines actually use energy, asking whether it's possible to 'supercharg

Fully Charged

Saiful Islam explores how to store energy. With the UK generating far more energy today than 80 years ago, finding bette

Say It with Sound

Prof Sophie Scott uses hissing cockroaches, chirping crickets and rumbling elephants to explore how humans and animals h

Silent Messages

Professor Sophie Scott explores the world of silent communication, investigating why smells and body language can say so

The Word

Professor Sophie Scott investigates what language is and whether humans are really the only species to use it.

Where Do I Come From?

Professor Alice Roberts meets our ancient ancestral family, from armadillos to sharks, and discovers our true place in t

What Makes Me Human?

Professor Alice Roberts explores the story of human evolution, revealing how a humble African ape became a successful gl

What Makes Me, Me?

Professor Alice Roberts explores what makes each of us totally unique and celebrates the incredible diversity we see in

How to Get Lucky

Dr Hannah Fry, through a host of live experiments, uncovers the secrets of luck to discover what really controls our des

How to Bend the Rules

Dr Hannah Fry reveals how data-gobbling algorithms have taken over our lives and now control almost everything we do, wi

How Can We All Win?

Dr Hannah Fry tests the limits of our control, from gravity-defying stunts to human-sized drones, and delves into the wo

Engine Earth

Professor Chris Jackson reveals how, for billions of years, volcanic activity drove climate change on planet Earth. Now,

Water World

Dr Helen Czerski explains why the ocean is so vital to life on earth and what we need to know to be good citizens of our

Up In The Air

Dr Tara Shine takes a deep breath and explores the gases that make up the air we breath. One of them might provide the a

The Invisible Enemy

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam is joined by leading experts to explore viruses, the immune system and modern testing technol

The Perfect Storm

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam is joined by leading experts to reveal the secrets of contagion and the mathematics of diseas

Fighting Back

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam is joined by leading experts to unlock the science of vaccines, variants and viral genetic co

Dead Body

Professor Sue Black is joined by Emilia Fox and forensic scientists to unlock the mysterious death of a skeleton.

Missing Body

Professor Sue Black investigates a Christmas murder mystery with leading police experts, forensic scientists and an awar

Living Body

A 'heist' has been staged in the Royal Institution. Can forensic evidence identify and convict the individual responsibl

How to Build an Intelligent Machine

Professor Mike Wooldridge explores the nature of artificial intelligence. By using experiments and demonstrations, he in

My AI Life

Professor Mike Wooldridge reveals the huge role AI already plays in our daily lives, sometimes without us even realising

The Future of AI: Dream or a Nightmare?

Professor Mike Wooldridge is joined by leading experts to grapple with the future of AI. What opportunities and dangers

From Taste Buds to Toilet

Dr Chris van Tulleken follows the extraordinary journey food takes through our bodies – from the very first moment we

How Food Makes Us

In this lecture, Dr Chris van Tulleken investigates how we get energy from our food and how what we eat makes us who we

The Big Food Hack

What did the very first meal on earth look like? To begin his third and final Christmas Lecture in an explosive fashion,

Destination Moon

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock begins her search for extraterrestrial life with an exploration of our nearest neighbour, a

Searching the Solar System

Space scientist Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock continues her search for alien life with a grand tour of our solar system.

To the Stars and Beyond

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, with the help of the world’s most powerful telescope, ventures through the Milky Way and