Waking up in the universe - Richard Dawkins 1991 Christmas Lectures 1/5

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,In the first of his CHRISTMAS LECTURES, Richard Dawkins explores the origins of life. Beginning with a look at our ancestry, he shows how the probability of our existence is very small. Watch all the lectures in this series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnrZHfNEDZwJw3_jDeusmHuVYDdKRpo9 Watch our newest Christmas lectures here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnrZHfNEDZyQJZLPMjwEoOLdkFBLU2m1 This lecture was filmed at the Ri on 1 December 1991. These lectures were originally a YouTube member exclusive for our Science Supporters, and now we’re putting them out for everyone to watch. If you can’t wait for them all to be published, get access now by signing up as a YouTube channel member, and help us bring science to more people: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join --- Life grows up in the universe by gradual degrees of evolution. Billions of years ago, there existed a vast population of bacteria. But it was only an elite group of these bacteria that evolved to become humans. In truth, we are lucky to be alive. In the first of his CHRISTMAS LECTURES, Richard Dawkins explores the origins of life. Beginning with a look at our ancestry, he shows how the probability of our existence is very small. Becoming an ancestor is much more difficult than simple reproduction, and Richard reveals how our ancestors did what it took to survive and pass on their genes. But although some of our life must be devoted to perpetuating it, surely there must be more to it? Richard explores the role of art and culture in society, and examines how the capabilities of the human body have enabled us to accomplish complex tasks. When it comes to our understanding of the meaning of life, science is important. As Richard explains, science can help us uncover both when we arrived on this planet, and why we are here. Some people turn to the supernatural for the answer to such questions. Richard looks at the limitations of beliefs in the supernatural and uses a cannonball to prove why instead we should have faith in science and its predictions. -- About the 1991 CHRISTMAS LECTURES The world-famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins presents the CHRISTMAS LECTURES on "our own growing knowledge of how life grows up in the universe." Just as children grow up to be adults, so too does life gradually evolve on a planet over thousands of generations, to move from “nonliving simplicity” to become “living complexity”. Combining beautiful writing with a range of illuminating demonstrations, the series featured a variety of wildlife, a virtual reality Lecture Theatre, and special guests – including the late Douglas Adams reading an excerpt from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Find out more about the Ri CHRISTMAS LECTURES here: https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures --- Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:25:22

Q&A: The secrets of Einstein's unknown equation – with Sean Carroll

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31K views 1 week ago

00:00:58

Why don't we know what 95% of the universe is made of? #science

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1 views 4 months ago

00:28:47

The Science of Cheese - Ri Science Podcast with Bronwen Percival

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,To celebrate National Cheese Day earlier this month, we sat down with biochemist and cheese expert Bronwen Percival to look under the barrel at the science of one of the nation’s favourite foods. From the basics of cheese production to the biochemistry underlying its notorious smell, and even some cheese tastings, this video podcast episode guarantees to open your eyes to the captivating world of cheese. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe to our podcast here for all the episodes: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zfY0yzdW6UUfNmV4S4DjU 0:00 Introduction 0:58 The basics of cheese 3:15 The fermentation process 4:44 The power of salt 5:20 Cheese tasting 6:35 Why does cheese smell? 9:15 The history of cheese 10:45 Tasting St James cheese 13:07 How do we choose the right microbes? 16:11 What can we learn from cheese 20:06 The ‘goaty’ flavour of Goat’s cheese 21:23 The biggest threat to artisanal cheese 26:20 Becoming a cheese scientist Bronwen Percival is the cheese buyer for Neal’s Yard Dairy in London. In addition to working with cheesemakers and the company’s maturation team to select and optimize the quality of the cheese they sell, she works to mobilize collaboration between cheesemakers and the scientific community. In 2012, she instigated a biennial conference on the Science of Artisan Cheese. In early 2014, she spent two months in the Dutton Lab at Harvard University studying the role of marine-associated Proteobacteria on cheese rinds. Along with Dr. Benjamin Wolfe, she co-founded the website MicrobialFoods.org, a scientific resource for producers, purveyors, and enthusiasts of artisan microbial foods, and more recently she served on the editorial board of the Oxford Companion to Cheese. The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:57:22

Paranormal activity: science or fiction? - with Chris French

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,Paranormal experiences often appear perplexing, but are they genuinely legitimate phenomena? Watch the Q&A here (exclusively for our YouTube channel members): https://youtu.be/Zpe5V4PoISE Sign up as a YouTube member here for early access and other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Buy Chris's book 'The Science of Weird Shit' here: https://geni.us/Jx8w This talk was recorded at the Ri on 22 April 2024. Join Chris French, psychologist and expert on all things paranormal, as he reveals the cardinal truths behind everything from ghostly encounters and alien abductions, to UFO sightings and near-death experiences. By employing rigorous scientific methods, Chris will embark on a search for the truth behind these mystical occurrences. Chris' intellectual journey carries us through the debunking of extrasensory perception (ESP), endeavours to communicate with the departed, and even accounts of alien abductions, among other curious occurrences. These phenomena also offer a profound insight into the intricacies of human cognition and consciousness, and should be systematically studied accordingly. By employing an academic, comprehensive, logical, and occasionally mathematical approach, Chris demystifies what once seemed beyond explanation. Allow yourself to discover the overlap between belief, the human mind, and the mysteries that continue to intrigue and perplex us. 00:00 Intro 1:29 What is anomalistic psychology? 3:33 Testing paranormal claims: baby psychic 10:40 Testing paranormal claims: dream detective 21:02 Testing paranormal claims: sensing the future 24:58 The replication problem in psychology 27:59 Why study paranormal psychology? 29:25 Demo: The unreliability of memory 32:20 Inattentional blindness of witnesses 37:44 Spoon bending and memory conformity 42:59 How false memories can be implanted 48:19 Alien experiences, sleep paralysis and hypnosis 54:28 Top down processing and pareidolia --- Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of the British Humanist Association. He has published over 150 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims. --- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:57:43

Decoding the cosmos - with Hiranya Peiris

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1 views 5 months ago

,Unravel the profound mysteries of the universe's explosive birth. Watch the Q&A here (exclusively for our YouTube Channel Members): https://youtu.be/lHh0692c2is Join our channel to get early access, exclusive Q&As, and other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join This talk was recorded at the Ri on 26 April 2024. Just a century ago, observational evidence established the existence of other galaxies besides our own. Soon afterwards, it was discovered that the Universe is expanding, driving a profound change in our understanding of the cosmos. In 1998, the prevailing cosmological paradigm was again upended by the discovery that the Universe's expansion is accelerating. Since then, the remarkable progress in cosmology, spanning Peiris's research career, has been driven by the close interplay between theory and observations. Observational discoveries have led to a Standard Model of cosmology with ingredients not present in the standard model of particle physics – dark matter, dark energy, and a primordial origin for cosmic structure. The physical nature of these ingredients remains a mystery. The race to unravel this cosmic puzzle is now underway, motivating a new generation of ambitious sky surveys across the electromagnetic spectrum and using new messengers such as gravitational waves. Peiris describes some highlights from her journey through this rapidly changing cosmological landscape in this discourse. She also discusses how laboratory experiments are helping us test new fundamental physics paradigms developed to explain cosmological observations. --- 00:00 Intro 1:30 How do we know about the universe? 7:55 Tracing the light of galaxies 13:00 The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) 16:53 Mapping dark matter with gravitational lensing 22:30 How do we know how far away galaxies are? 32:03 Using machine learning to explore galaxies 35:50 Detecting dark matter in the lab 46:31 The Universe on a table-top 54:58 Condensed matter experiment and cosmology --- Hiranya Peiris holds the Professorship of Astronomy (1909) at Cambridge, the first woman to do so in the 115-year history of this prestigious chair. As a cosmologist, she delves into cosmic mysteries at the edge of our understanding, reaching back to the very first moments of the Universe after the Big Bang, often treading the path of high risk and high reward. She is noted for interdisciplinary research bridging fundamental physics with astronomical data. Peiris recently contributed to the anthology “The Sky Is For Everyone” and works to reach beyond traditional audiences for public engagement, including through science/art collaborations and live science/music events. Her work has been recognised by awards such as the Max Born Prize of the German Physical Society and the Institute of Physics (2021), the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (2021) and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018). --- Discourses are one of the Ri’s oldest and most prestigious series of talks. Since 1825, audiences in the theatre have witnessed countless mind-expanding moments, including the first public liquefaction of air by James Dewar, the announcement of the electron by JJ Thomson and over 100 lectures by Michael Faraday. In more recent times, we have had Nobel laureates, Fields medal winners, scientists, authors and artists – all from the cutting-edge of their field. Discourses are an opportunity for the best and brightest to share their work with the world. Steeped in nearly two centuries of tradition, a Discourse is more than just a lecture. The Discourse lasts exactly an hour, and a bell is rung to mark the beginning and end. To keep the focus on the topic, presenters begin sharply at 7:30pm without introduction and we lock the speaker into a room ten minutes ahead of the start (legend has it that a speaker once tried to escape!). Some of our guests and speakers dress smartly for our Discourse events to add to this sense of occasion. Read more about Discourses here: https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/blog/history-friday-evening-discourse ---- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

01:15:53

Preparing for the future: Evolution, AI, and interstellar travel - with David Christian

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,Can we trust stories about the future? Join historian and bestselling author David Christian as he offers an introduction to the strange world of the future. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 20 November 2023. Every second of our lives - whether we're looking both ways before crossing the street, celebrating the birth of a baby, or moving to a new city - we must cope with an unknowable future by telling stories about what will happen next. What we think we know about it at all scales, from the predictive mechanisms of single-celled organisms and tomato plants to the merging of colossal galaxies billions of years from now. Drawing together science, history and philosophy from a huge range of places and times, David will explore how we prepare for uncertain futures, including the future of human evolution, artificial intelligence, interstellar travel, and more. For all those curious about what the world could look like in the next hundred years and what the solutions to the biggest challenges facing us all could look like, this is an unmissable event. --- David Christian is a Professor Emeritus at Macquarie University, where he was formerly a Distinguished Professor of History and the director of the Big History Institute. He cofounded the Big History Project with Bill Gates, his Coursera MOOCs are popular around the world, and he is cocreator of the Macquarie University Big History School. He has delivered keynotes at conferences around the world, including the Davos World Economic Forum, and his TED Talk has been viewed more than twelve million times. He is the author of numerous books and articles, as well as the New York Times bestseller Origin Story. --- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:07:06

What are the latest developments in AI Robotics? - with Mike Wooldridge

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1 views 9 months ago

01:00:07

What's the future of science education? With Steve ‘Jake’ Jacobs

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1 views 9 months ago

,Science education has been struggling in recent years - how can we change this? Join Prof. Steve ‘Jake’ Jacobs to explore one way to fix this problem in an interactive, demonstration filled Discourse. Jake’s work takes inspiration from the pioneering work of Michael Faraday, showcasing how practical hands-on science, without the need for expensive equipment, holds the key to reigniting a passion for science. This Discourse was filmed at the Ri on 1 September 2023. Jake demonstrates how, using nothing more than things you can find around the house, you can create remarkably simple, yet stunningly revealing science demonstrations. He demonstrates many of these during this Discourse: firing smoke rings across the theatre, moving heavy objects with static electricity, making matter magically disappear, and even igniting a 100 foot tube filled with flammable gas! These activities unlock the secrets of the natural world while honing critical thinking skills. More than educational, these activities stimulate an eager interest in pursuing a life of science learning. Endorsed by the UN, the qualities of these demonstrations are rooted in the Royal Institution's rich history. Over two hundred years ago, pioneering scientist Michael Faraday began this approach, inspiring and educating generations of students with live science demonstrations. Now, Jake and his team continue this tradition, exhibiting captivating science phenomena with exciting hands-on science. Watch the Q&A for this talk (exclusively for YouTube Channel members): Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe ---- Prof. Steve ‘Jake’ Jacobs, is an accomplished scientist, educator, author, international media personality with advanced degrees in mathematics and chemistry. He has built a career out of making science fun and accessible. The former chief scientist of television’s Discovery Channel, Jake has written and presented a series for the Discovery Channel, and also for National Geographic TV and Fox Television where he was the creator and on-air host of the series Jake’s Attic. As well as over 15 years of classroom teaching & administration, he also has a wealth of experience in science communication. He is Director of Science Education at Children’s Museum of Wichita & Mr. Wizard Studio, Hollywood, as well as Science consultant to Disney, National Public Radio (NPR), the Smithsonian, PBS, Nickelodeon, Paramount Television and FOX Television. Jake is known in the US as Wizard IV, a title inherited from his predecessors: television’s Mr Wizard, Don Herbert (Wizard III), Hubert Alyea of Princeton University (Wizard II), and the inspirational leader of all science communication wizards, the Royal Institution’s very own Michael Faraday. Jake is currently participating in a worldwide hunt for Wizard V, an aim he wishes to achieve through aim encouraging the next generation to acquire skills enabling them to ‘think as a scientist’, and to apply those skills in everyday living. ----- Discourses are one of the Ri’s oldest and most prestigious series of talks. Since 1825, audiences in the theatre have witnessed countless mind-expanding moments, including the first public liquefaction of air by James Dewar, the announcement of the electron by JJ Thomson and over 100 lectures by Michael Faraday. In more recent times, we have had Nobel laureates, Fields medal winners, scientists, authors and artists – all from the cutting-edge of their field. Discourses are an opportunity for the best and brightest to share their work with the world. Steeped in nearly two centuries of tradition, a Discourse is more than just a lecture. The Discourse lasts exactly an hour, and a bell is rung to mark the beginning and end. To keep the focus on the topic, presenters begin sharply at 7:30pm without introduction and we lock the speaker into a room ten minutes ahead of the start (legend has it that a speaker once tried to escape!). Some of our guests and speakers dress smartly for our Discourse events to add to this sense of occasion. Read more about Discourses here: https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/blog/history-friday-evening-discourse ---- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:59:52

The future of measurement with quantum sensors - with The National Physical Laboratory

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1 views 9 months ago

,What are quantum sensors? And how do they enable precision measurements of gravity, inertial forces, and magnetic fields? Watch the Q&A (exclusively for members) here: https://youtu.be/ylvBYnxeyR4 Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 29 November 2023, in partnership with The National Physical Laboratory. Discover how atomic magnetometry is used to monitor the spin of atoms in external magnetic fields and how NPL is supporting the development of portable magnetometers for instance for non-destructive imaging of structural defects. Learn about atom interferometry and how it is being used to measure gravity, linear accelerations, and rotations. Find out about NPL's leading-edge research in this area, including their work on the measurement behind gravity gradiometers and absolute gravimeters based on a double rubidium atomic fountain, which has advantages over classical devices. Take advantage of this opportunity to delve into the exciting world of quantum sensors and their applications in precision measurement. Prof Jan-Theodoor (JT) Janssen FREng FinstP FIET is the Chief Scientist at NPL and a member of the executive team. JT joined NPL in 1998 and is distinguished for the application of quantum technologies and an NPL Fellow in Quantum Electrical Metrology. His research involves a wide range of topics in solid-state physics applied to metrology applications. JT launched the National Graphene Metrology Centre (NGMC), the role of which is to develop metrology and standardisation for the nascent graphene industry. He is also a Scientific Co-Director of the Quantum Metrology Institute (QMI), which covers all of NPL's leading-edge quantum science and metrology research and provides the expertise and facilities needed for academia and industry to test, validate, and ultimately commercialise new quantum research and technologies. Since 2017, JT has been a member of the NPL Executive team, first as the Research Director, and now as the Chief Scientist. In this role he is responsible for the external scientific engagements with academia and other government organisations and recently also our international activities. He responsible for the Science & Technology Advisory Council (STAC) and Post Graduate Institute (PGI) which NPL jointly runs with the Universities of Strathclyde and Surrey. Internally, he is responsible for the quality and benchmarking of the research outputs of the laboratory and its knowledge management. JT is also the UK delegate for EURAMET the European Association of National Metrology Institutes. JT is the executive sponsor for NPL’s Juno committee, which aims to address gender equality in physics and to encourage better practice for all staff and sponsor of the disability working group. JT is passionate about diversity and inclusion at the laboratory and in STEM more generally. JT is a Chartered Physicist and Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of NPL, the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). He is also the NPL Head of Science and Engineering Profession for the Government Science and Engineering Profession (GSE) and a visiting professor at the University of Lancaster. He is the UK representative on EURAMET (European Metrology Organisation) and a member of its Board of Directors. In 2021 JT was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:52:07

From artificial intelligence to hybrid intelligence - with Catholijn Jonker

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1 views 10 months ago

00:06:18

How batteries will power the future - with The Faraday Institution

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00:51:27

The ethics of space settlement - with Erika Nesvold

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,What are the ethical issues of moving humanity into outer space? Find out more about the questions we need to answer, with astrophysics engineer Erika Nesvold. 00:00 Frome astronomer to space ethicist 7:21 Why worry about ethics in space? 8:40 How will we live with the space environment? 11:19 Who owns space? 12:57 How will we share space? 17:39 How can we protect the space environment? 19:49 What is there is life in outer space? 23:41 Criminal justice in space - space prisons? 30:35 Dissent and liberty in space 36:41 Medical emergencies in space 42:53 Future generations in space 48:03 Suggestions for how we can live in space Buy Erika's book here: https://geni.us/WNXZB Watch the Q&A (exclusively for channel members) here: https://youtu.be/eff857wg4lk This talk was recorded by the Ri on 10 August 2023. Incorporating research from ethics, sociology, history, and law, Nesvold brings a unique interdisciplinary mix to this critical topic. From the environment to labour rights and medical ethics, discover the importance of a global conversation on these issues as we move towards a future of multi-planetary habitation. As space settlement becomes an increasingly pressing reality, Nesvold challenges us to consider not only the scientific and technological aspects of such a venture, but also the ethical implications. Join us for this important and thought-provoking lecture, as we hear from one of the leading voices in the field of space ethics. ---- Erika Nesvold has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland and has performed computational astrophysics research at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Carnegie Institution for Science, NASA Ames, and SETI. She now works as an Astrophysics Engineer for the educational astrophysics software Universe Sandbox. This is a video game, astrophysics simulator, artistic medium, and educational software all in one, and Erika has applied her computational astrophysics expertise to simulate everything from galaxy dynamics to surface water flow. She is the co-founder of the JustSpace Alliance, a nonprofit whose mission is to advocate for a more inclusive and ethical future in space, and to harness visions of tomorrow for a more just and equitable world today. She is the author of Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space and the co-editor of Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration. The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:42:07

Modelling the cosmos – with Claudia Maraston

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,How do we model the light of galaxies across the universe? Dive into the world of Stellar Population Models. Watch the Q&A, exclusively for our YouTube channel members, here: https://youtu.be/aTwNoo8im5M Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe This talk was recorded at the Ri on 9 October 2023. These models observe the spectro-photometric and mass properties of galaxies, and have found widespread applications in astrophysics and cosmology, providing us with the tools to study galaxy formation and evolution both theoretically and through data interpretation. Claudia will explore how Stellar Population Models are developed, using leading-edge techniques to predict the properties of stars and their evolution over time. You'll discover how these models are used to study the formation and evolution of galaxies, shedding light on the mysteries of the Universe and its origins. Whether you're an astrophysics enthusiast or just curious, this talk promises to be a fascinating journey through one of the most exciting fields in modern science. So, join us as we unravel the secrets of the cosmos and explore the frontiers of our understanding of the Universe. ---- Claudia Maraston is the UK's top ranked female physicst. She is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Portsmouth. Claudia obtained her PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Bologna, leading to post-doctoral fellowships at the Ludwig-Maximillian University of Munich and the Max-Planck Institute for extra-terrestrial physics (MPE) in Garching (Germany). She was awarded a Marie-Curie fellowship in 2005 which she spent at the University of Oxford, before joining the University of Portsmouth in 2007 as the recipient of the Marie-Curie Excellence Team Grant. Claudia designs models for the calculation of spectro-photometric evolution of stellar populations, which are used as a tool to study galaxy formation and evolution both theoretically and through data interpretation. She is the winner of the 2018 Royal Astronomical Society Eddington Medal. ---- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:59:14

The Truth about AI 1/3 - 2023 Christmas Lectures with Mike Wooldridge

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,'How to build an intelligent machine' - Professor Mike Wooldridge explores the nature of artificial intelligence. By using experiments and demonstrations, he investigates how AI learns and what it can do. This is the first of the 2023 Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution, supported by CGI, on the theme 'The Truth About AI'. With thanks to contributors Aidan Meller, Sarah de Lagarde, Arjuna Nagendran (NHS), Bit Bio, Steve Mould, Justin Grayston (Google), Safa Abbas, Seraphina Goldfarb-Tarrant (Cohere), Tom Mustill. We've republished this video as the original version had some glitches in it. Watch the second lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9cCztutBo Watch the third lecture here: https://youtu.be/B3IeRplsYXw In the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, supported by CGI, Mike Wooldridge will tackle the most important and rapidly evolving field of science today – Artificial Intelligence (AI). Find out more about the lectures here: https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures Not since the World-Wide Web emerged 30 years ago has a new technology promised to change our world so fundamentally and so swiftly as AI does. Today’s AI tools such as ChatGPT and AlphaGo are just a hint of what is to come. The future of AI is going to be quite a journey, and the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES give us a guided tour. AI has increasingly grabbed the headlines in recent years – generating excitement and concern in equal measure – but what should we believe? In these lectures Mike will reveal how AI works and how it will affect our lives – and will tackle head-on our hopes and fears for this most fascinating of fields. ---- Mike Wooldridge is an academic and author specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI). As an academic, he is a professor of AI at the University of Oxford, where he served as Head of Department of Computer Science from 2014 to 2021; he is also Director for AI at The Alan Turing Institute in London. He has received multiple awards for both research and education, including in 2020, the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society – the leading award for a UK computer scientist – and in 2021 the Outstanding Educator Award from the Association for the Advancement of AI (AAAI). From 2014-16, Mike was President of the European Association for AI, and from 2015-17 he was President of the International Joint Conference on AI (IJCAI). He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Artificial Intelligence, the leading journal for AI, established more than 50 years ago and has been invited to give evidence on matters relating to AI to multiple government committees. As an author, he has written nine books, which have been translated nine times. His books include two popular science introductions to AI: the Ladybird Expert Guide to AI (Penguin, 2018) in the iconic British book series, and The Road to Conscious Machines (Pelican, 2020). Mike gives frequent public lectures on AI, including at the Hay Festival and Cheltenham Science Festival and is regularly interviewed by the media. ---- Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:56:38

The need for fusion - with the UK Atomic Energy Authority

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,Explore and delve into fusion energy's complex scientific underpinnings. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Watch the Q&A (exclusively for our YouTube channel members) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSa8_32dO68&feature=youtu.be This lecture was filmed on the 21 October 2023, in collaboration with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Join us for a captivating academic discourse on the need for fusion energy, where audiences are invited to explore and delve into fusion energy's complex scientific underpinnings. Mark Maslin, a preeminent researcher from UCL, talks about the interplay between fusion energy's development and its positioning in the broader energy market. Dennis Whyte, a respected scholar from MIT, delves into the formidable complexities of plasma physics, a crucial aspect of the fusion process. And Jenny Cane from UKAEA, an expert in fusion engineering, demonstrates the importance of integrated design and materials research in fusion energy development. ---- Jenny Cane is the Technical Lead for the STEP In-Vessel Components, responsible for the design and performance of the systems that lay closest to the plasma – the Blanket, First Wall, Divertor, Shielding, Limiters and Vacuum-Vessel. After graduating from a DPhil in the Aerodynamics and Heat Transfer of Ramjet Engines at Oxford University Jenny decided to move into renewable energy engineering and spent 7 years at the Wind Turbine manufacturer – Vestas, working as a control; project; and aerodynamics engineer both in the UK and the USA. Jenny began working as an thermo-hydraulics engineer at UKAEA in 2013 working on the JET safety case. She then moved into a lead engineer role for JET as it prepared for the record breaking deuterium-tritium campaigns; before moving to the STEP programme in 2019. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, has two children and enjoys, running, cycling, tap dancing and gardening in her spare time. Mark Maslin FRGS, FRSA is a Professor of Earth System Science at UCL and the Natural History Museum of Denmark. He is also Strategy Advisor to Lansons, Net Zero Now, a CSR Board member of Sopra Steria and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. He is a leading scientist with particular interest in understanding climate change and the major challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. He has published over 190 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and The Lancet. He has received research, consultancy and training funding worth over £75m from government, charities, NGOs and the private sector. He was the only climatologist on the original 2009 The Lancet report on climate change and global health and is a co-author on the annual Lancet Countdown reports that started in 2015. Mark has written 10 books and 100 popular articles (e.g., New Scientist, Independent, Guardian, Telegraph, New York Times and The Conversation on which he currently has over 5.5 million reads). He regularly appears on radio and television, including BBC One David Attenborough’s ‘Climate Change: the facts’. His books include ‘Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction - 4th edition’ (2021), ‘The Cradle of Humanity’ (2019), ‘The Human Planet’ with Simon Lewis (2018) and his latest book is ‘How to Save Our Planet: the Facts’ (2021). Mark was recently named the Number 1 Global Sustainability thought leader and influencer of 2023. Tim Bestwick is Chief Development Officer and Deputy CEO at the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Tim joined UKAEA in 2018 after leading commercialisation and innovation from big science programmes and campus development at Harwell and Daresbury. Following a career in corporate research in electronic devices and optoelectronics - including IBM and Sharp - Tim has been involved in establishing and growing multiple technology start-up companies. He was Chair of the Eureka Network, the major international business to business innovation network and is Chair of the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. Tim was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List in 2023 for services to the commercialisation of science, technology, and innovation. ---- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:59:15

The Truth about AI 3/3 - 2023 Christmas Lectures with Mike Wooldridge

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,'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 lie ahead as AI continues to evolve? This is the third of the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, supported by CGI, on the theme 'The Truth About AI'. With thanks to contributors Paul Newman (Oxa), Elke Schwarz (Queen Mary University), Maurice Fallon (Oxford Robotics Institute), Sue Black (Durham University), Vian Bakir (University of Bangor), Hassun Ugail (University of Bradford), Kate Devlin (King's College London), Alisa Patotskaya (Immersive Fox), Perla Maiolino (University of Oxford), Stuart Russell (University of California, Berkeley). Watch the first lecture here: https://youtu.be/l0gZAlZgI34 Watch the second lecture here: https://youtu.be/Ib9cCztutBo In the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, supported by CGI, Mike Wooldridge will tackle the most important and rapidly evolving field of science today – Artificial Intelligence (AI). Find out more about the lectures here: https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures Not since the World-Wide Web emerged 30 years ago has a new technology promised to change our world so fundamentally and so swiftly as AI does. Today’s AI tools such as ChatGPT and AlphaGo are just a hint of what is to come. The future of AI is going to be quite a journey, and the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES to be broadcast on BBC Four and iPlayer in late December, will give us a guided tour. AI has increasingly grabbed the headlines in recent years – generating excitement and concern in equal measure – but what should we believe? In these lectures Mike will reveal how AI works and how it will affect our lives – and will tackle head-on our hopes and fears for this most fascinating of fields. ---- Mike Wooldridge is an academic and author specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI). As an academic, he is a professor of AI at the University of Oxford, where he served as Head of Department of Computer Science from 2014 to 2021; he is also Director for AI at The Alan Turing Institute in London. He has received multiple awards for both research and education, including in 2020, the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society – the leading award for a UK computer scientist – and in 2021 the Outstanding Educator Award from the Association for the Advancement of AI (AAAI). From 2014-16, Mike was President of the European Association for AI, and from 2015-17 he was President of the International Joint Conference on AI (IJCAI). He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Artificial Intelligence, the leading journal for AI, established more than 50 years ago and has been invited to give evidence on matters relating to AI to multiple government committees. As an author, he has written nine books, which have been translated nine times. His books include two popular science introductions to AI: the Ladybird Expert Guide to AI (Penguin, 2018) in the iconic British book series, and The Road to Conscious Machines (Pelican, 2020). Mike gives frequent public lectures on AI, including at the Hay Festival and Cheltenham Science Festival and is regularly interviewed by the media. ---- Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:00:58

Watch the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURES

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01:47:04

The volcanic chemistry of sulfur - with Andrew Szydlo

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,Ri favourite and science icon Andrew Szydlo takes you on a tour of the amazing, and sometimes explosive, chemistry of sulfur. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe This talk was recorded at the Royal Institution on 2 December 2023. Discover more about the history of this curious element, from it’s discovery in 2000BCE to the present day, recreating some long-lost experiments along the way. Sulfur has played an important role in science and culture over thousands of years, from creating gold, extracting metals and even creating sweets! Andrew explores the amazing 4000 year history of this fascinating element in his usual inimitable style, and of course with a desk filled with exciting chemical demonstrations. ----- Andrew Szydlo is a chemist and secondary school teacher at Highgate School, well-loved by pupils and Ri attendees alike. He has given public lectures around the country, been featured on TV shows and has become a popular part of the Ri's YouTube channel in recent years, where his videos have over 16 million views in total. When Andrew started giving chemistry lessons to friends some 50 years ago, he would bring a pocket-full of chemicals to illustrate the principles of chemistry. Today, these chemistry lessons have evolved into demonstration lectures which he gives to audiences in a wide variety of locations. During the past 40 years he has given over 500 talks, in addition to teaching chemistry full-time at Highgate School in London. Today he is still based at Highgate School, delivering chemistry lectures to local schools. The Royal Society of Chemistry included Andrew as one of their 175 Faces of Chemistry. ----- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:02:17

What are the different types of Artificial Intelligence?

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00:10:18

What is Artificial Intelligence? with Mike Wooldridge

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00:55:20

The complex science of cities and how they grow – with Elsa Arcaute

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,What can fractal patterns tell us about how cities are formed and grow? And can you use complexity science to predict voting patterns based on infrastructure? Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Become a YouTube channel member for exclusive access to the Q&A: fhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Complexity science teaches us that "more is different," meaning that interacting parts, for example, people, give rise to new and unexpected properties. Despite cities being often seen as opposite to nature, discover that they share many similar processes with natural systems. In this lecture, Elsa Arcaute explores fascinating connections, such as how the structure of leaves can help us understand the layout of cities, how urban footprints left over thousands of years resemble the organisation of the brain, and whether there is a collective urban memory that influences socio-economic trends like inequality. Additionally, we will question whether these resemblances are the outcome of our fractal nature. ------ Elsa Arcaute is Professor of Complexity Science at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. Her research focuses on modelling and analysing urban systems from the perspective of complexity sciences. Her main branches of research are urban scaling laws, hierarchies in urban systems, defining city boundaries, and the analysis of urban processes using percolation theory and networks. ------ The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:00:58

What does a black hole look like? #science

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00:00:52

Could scientists find a cure for ageing? #biology #science

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01:06:23

Why is precision timekeeping so important? - with the National Physical Laboratory

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,Delve into the fascinating and delicate realm of timekeeping. Discover how atomic clocks have replaced the Earth as our time reference and how the present and future challenges in measuring and delivering time are met by the home of UK time, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). 00:00 Intro to time measurement 3:14 How timekeeping was standardised 8:37 The atomic clock revolution 12:11 How is time now measured with UTC? 19:02 Why is accurate time needed by the finance sector? 21:07 Accurate time stamps prevent stock market crashes 28:03 How NPL supports the financial sector 33:11 Why time is a hidden utility for GPS 37:26 The risks of position, navigation and timing dependency 40:37 The future of the time scale 43:57 A nationwide timing infrastructure 46:43 Optical atomic clocks for the future 48:04 How do atomic clocks work? 55:05 The extreme accuracy of optical clocks 1:01:19 Redefining what a second is Join our YouTube channel membership and get access to the Q&A for this talk here: https://youtu.be/A5xImb19Yxg This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 26 October 2023. We kick off with Peter Whibberley, a senior scientist with many years experience exploring the world of timekeeping. Peter takes us on a brief journey through the history of time, explaining how the national time scale is created today, and how it is a key part of the global collaboration that creates the precise time and frequency measurement on which life and business relies today. Resilient time signal dissemination from the national time scale is crucial to NPL's mission, ensuring traceable timestamping and time synchronisation across industries, enhancing market clarity in the financial sector, and enabling regulatory forensics in the event of a crash. Elena Parsons will share valuable insights into how NPL spearheads the delivery of resilient time signals, granting industry access through innovation and service nodes. Gain a deeper understanding of the vital role played by NPL in maintaining accurate and reliable timekeeping. Looking to the near future, Leon Lobo, a visionary in the field, shed slight on what lies ahead for the world of timekeeping. Exploring the strategies and innovations aimed at future-proofing resilient time, mitigating our over-reliance on weak and vulnerable signals from space-based global navigation satellite systems such as GPS. Learn about the leading-edge initiatives spearheaded by NPL to ensure timekeeping remains robust and adaptable in an ever-changing world. Lastly, looking even further ahead at developments in precision timekeeping, we close the lecture with Rachel Godun, a principal scientist in the field, who unveils NPL's research programme into next-generation optical atomic clocks. Discover how these clocks will improve the performance of future time scales and are so accurate that they will even be used to redefine the unit of time itself. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:55:24

The ghost particle: searching for the mysterious neutrino - with James Riordan

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,What's the history and science behind the pursuit of the ghostly subatomic particle, the neutrino? Watch the Q&A (exclusively for channel members) here: https://youtu.be/IBnN26eKnLY Buy James's book here: https://geni.us/h32Bb This lecture was recorded on 17 August 2023. With approximately 100 trillion neutrinos passing through us every second, these particles hold the key to unlocking some of the Universe's greatest mysteries. From the discovery of neutrinos and their role in illuminating the Universe through neutrino telescopes to the challenges of detecting this elusive particle, this lecture explores the science behind the ghost particle. Additionally, we will explore the potential of neutrinos to answer some of the biggest questions in the universe, including the composition of dark matter and the Universe's origin. This is a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the science behind the neutrino and its impact on our understanding of the cosmos. 00:00 A revolution in astronomy 4:58 What exactly is a neutrino? 6:13 Where do neutrinos come from? 8:55 Nils Bohr and the Beta decay conundrum 12:14 Hans Bethe and the invisible particle solution 15:24 How NOT to find a neutrino 21:27 On the hunt for solar neutrinos 25:48 Three flavours of neutrinos 28:16 Neutrino oscillation and how it works 31:18 Probing the inside of the earth 34:47 Using neutrinos for astronomy 38:47 Matter over Antimatter 46:09 Could aliens communicate using neutrinos? 52:50 Looking at the birth of the universe --- James Riordon is a science journalist who has written for Science News, Scientific American, New Scientist, Popular Science, Washington Post, Science, Ad Astra, Physics Today, and Analytical Chemistry. He is a past President of the DC Science Writers Association and Cofounder of the Southwest Science Writers Association. --- Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

01:00:15

What is a white hole? – with Carlo Rovelli

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,Journey into the enigmatic depths of a black hole, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli. Buy Carlo's book here: https://geni.us/nNB6xAs Become one of our YouTube channel members and watch the Q&A with Carlo here: https://youtu.be/AVCFV4OLYfQ This talk was recorded at the Ri on 27 October 2023. 00:00 Intro 3:35 Why do black holes appear circular? 6:05 Travelling into a black hole 10:34 The space inside a black hole 18:50 The quantum properties of gravity 24:06 Loop quantum theory 27:42 Quantum jumps and white holes 32:49 Going beyond Einstein’s theory 34:46 How long does a white hole take to form? 39:51 How do we prove the white hole theory? 45:22 Dark matter and the crisis in physics 49:48 Can we detect white holes? 52:24 Science as mind travel Step beyond the event horizon of a black hole, and descend into the infinite abyss, where geometry folds and equations tighten around us. Witness the remnants of a star, dense and distant, as we plummet further into the unknown. And at last, behold the birth of a white hole, where time and space cease to exist. Renowned for his groundbreaking research in quantum gravity and his contributions to loop quantum gravity, a theoretical framework that seeks to reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics, Carlo will unveil the uncertainty and exhilaration of venturing into uncharted territory. Carlo has authored several highly influential scientific papers on loop quantum gravity, and has written several popular books that bring his research to the wider public. His book "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" became an international bestseller, introducing readers to key concepts of modern physics. Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist, philosopher and writer who has worked in Italy, the United States and, since 2000, in France. His research is focused mainly in the field of quantum gravity and is a founder of loop quantum gravity theory. Carlo is currently head of the quantum group at the Centre de Physique Theorique at Aix-Marseille University, a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute, and core member of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy of Western University. As a writer, Carlo became a household name after the success of his books ‘Seven Brief Lessons on Physics’ and ‘Reality is Not What It Seems’. ------- This lecture was an Ri Discourse. Discourses are one of the Ri’s oldest and most prestigious series of talks. Since 1825, audiences in the theatre have witnessed countless mind-expanding moments, including the first public liquefaction of air by James Dewar, the announcement of the electron by JJ Thomson and over 100 lectures by Michael Faraday. In more recent times, we have had Nobel laureates, Fields medal winners, scientists, authors and artists – all from the cutting-edge of their field. Discourses are an opportunity for the best and brightest to share their work with the world. Steeped in nearly two centuries of tradition, a Discourse is more than just a lecture. To keep the focus on the topic, presenters begin sharply at 7:30pm without introduction and we lock the speaker into a room ten minutes ahead of the start (legend has it that a speaker once tried to escape!). Some of our guests dress smartly for our Discourse events to add to this sense of occasion. Find out more about the history of the Friday Evening Discourses on our blog: https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/blog/history-friday-evening-discourse -------- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:00:43

Why your house needs a lightning rod #science

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01:02:00

From black holes to quantum computing - with Marika Taylor

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,How can black holes help us understand the workings of a quantum computer? The Q&A for this talk is available exclusively for our members: https://youtu.be/vdZ4AIwvqTM Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Black holes are believed to be the most efficient quantum computers naturally existing in our universe. Standard computers do not have the capabilities to quickly solve some of the problems and unanswered questions facing researchers, but black holes may be able to provide insight into how quantum computers work and facilitate their development. In this talk, discover how a quantum computer makes use of the quantum states of subatomic particles to both store and process information and explore the long-standing question of what happens if you fall into a black hole, from a new quantum perspective. 00:00 Introduction to the talk 4:36 What is a black hole? 8.34 The Event Horizon 12:55 Evidence and detection of black holes 19:53 Approaching a black hole 22:17 The black hole in Interstellar 25:01 Modern imaging of black holes 27:22 Gravitational waves 38:04 Black holes and quantum theory 46:44 New quantum perspectives 49:04 Black holes as giant hard drives 51:24 Real quantum computers? 55:45 Quantum errors 57:38 Black holes and error correction 59:44 From black holes to quantum computing This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 8 September 2023. Professor Marika Taylor is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Head of School within Mathematical Sciences at the University of Southampton. She is a member of the Centre for Geometry, Topology, and Applications, Southampton Theory Astrophysics and Gravity (STAG) Research Centre, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics group and the String Theory and Holography group. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:00:53

Does the universe exist inside a black hole? #multiverse

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00:52:13

Discoveries from Faraday's Laboratory – with David Ricketts

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00:00:58

Is willpower the secret to losing weight? #ultraprocessedfood

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00:48:07

What are the risks of generative AI? - The Turing Lectures with Mhairi Aitken

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,Are generative AI models moving too fast for regulation to keep up? Will the development of generative AI outpace our ability to ensure their responsible use? This is the second of three Turing Lectures, produced with The Alan Turing Institute. Watch the first one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6R7Ym6Vy_I Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/h4pxGVjbXVI Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe This talk was recorded at the Ri on 17 October 2023, in collaboration with The Alan Turing Institute. As generative AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, its potential to revolutionize the way we interact with data is clear. It has already shown its ability to assist with tasks such as image and video synthesis, text and speech generation, and music composition. However, the rapid development of generative AI models has also raised concerns about their misuse, particularly in the context of disinformation campaigns, deepfakes and online harassment. In this lecture, Mhairi Aitken examines what this means for online and offline safety and discuss how society might be able to mitigate these risks. Mhairi Aitken is an Ethics Fellow in the Public Policy Programme at The Alan Turing Institute, and an Honorary Senior Fellow at Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong in Australia. She is a Sociologist whose research examines social and ethical dimensions of digital innovation particularly relating to uses of data and AI. She was included in the 2023 international list of “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics”. Thank you to our YouTube channel members who help us to be able to produce and share this content. Join them and get extra perks at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:53:59

The secrets of Einstein's unknown equation – with Sean Carroll

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,Did you know that Einstein's most important equation isn't E=mc^2? Find out all about his equation that expresses how spacetime curves, with Sean Carroll. Buy Sean's book here: https://geni.us/AIAOUHn YouTube channel members can watch the Q&A for this lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO5adbV_mu8 Become one of our YouTube members for early, ad-free access to our videos, and other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join This lecture was recorded at the Ri on Monday 14 August 2023. 00:00 Einstein’s most important equation 3:37 Why Newton’s equations are so important 9:30 The two kinds of relativity 12:53 Why is it the geometry of spacetime that matters? 16:37 The principle of equivalence 18:39 Types of non-Euclidean geometry 26:26 The Metric Tensor and equations 32:22 Interstellar and time and space twisting 33:32 The Riemann tensor 37:45 A physical theory of gravity 43:28 How to solve Einstein’s equation 47:50 Using the equation to make predictions 51:05 How its been used to find black holes The real Einstein's Equation is part of general relativity, which relates the curvature of spacetime to the mass and energy distributed within it. Sean explains why the geometry of spacetime has anything to do with gravity, and how this famous equation expresses the way that spacetime curves. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of natural philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He won the Royal Society Winton Prize for his book about the search for the elusive Higgs boson, The Particle at the End of the Universe, and The Big Picture was an international bestseller. His most recent book is Something Deeply Hidden. He lives in Baltimore. Copies of Sean's latest book, 'The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 1: Space, Time and Motion', are available from Amazon and all good bookstores. The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

01:00:12

Charting the evolution of the Universe – with Brian Keating

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,Did the Universe begin with a Big Bang? And if not, how did it come to be? Join renowned cosmologist Brian Keating and explore the evolution of the Universe in this demo-packed lecture. Follow Dr Brian Keating on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/-6qWIOPzkSU This Discourse was recorded at the Ri on 29 June 2023. Discourses are one of the Ri’s oldest and most prestigious series of talks - find out more about them here: https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/blog/history-friday-evening-discourse Donate to the Ri and help us bring you more scientific lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri 00:00 Introduction 2:02 Early models of the universe’s origin 4:40 Newton and Einstein’s models of the universe 07:38 Lemaitre’s Big Bang 10:12 The four pillars of the Big Bang Theory 12:39 What’s the problem with the Big Bang theory? 16:06 Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation 19:54 Alternatives to the singular Big Bang 24:41 The inflationary multiverse theory 33:09 The double slit experiment 36:10 Disproving other theories with polarisation 42:41 B-mode polarisation – the decisive experiment 49:28 Losing the Nobel Prize due to meteorites 51:08 The Simons Observatory and the next experiment 54:44 Problems with the multiverse theory 57:40 Michael Faraday and experimental science Unravelling the mysteries and origins of the Universe remains one of the biggest questions in physics. Drawing upon decades of research and observation, the scientific consensus based on current evidence supports the theory of a single Big Bang event that led to the formation of the universe as we observe it today. While alternative evolutionary models such as bouncing and cyclic universes are undoubtedly intriguing, they lack the observational support and experimental validation that the Big Bang theory enjoys. From the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, to the large-scale structure of the universe, to the relative abundance of light elements, the Big Bang theory remains unquestioned. But new areas of research continue to develop, such as the study of dust and its contribution to astrophysical research, facilitating further understanding of the early universe and its evolution. As a leading expert in the field, Brian effortlessly navigates through the complex and fascinating science behind our universe and its conception. Brian Keating is a Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of physics at the Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences (CASS) in the Department of Physics at the University of California, San Diego. He is a public speaker, inventor, and an expert in the study of the universe’s oldest light, the cosmic microwave background (CMB), using it to learn about the origin and evolution of the universe. Keating is a writer and podcaster and the best-selling author of one of Amazon Editors’ ‘Best Non-fiction Books of All Time', Losing the Nobel Prize. Visit his website here: https://briankeating.com/ and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating -- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: modsiw, Anton Ragin, Edward Unthank, Robert L Winer, Andy Carpenter, William Hudson Don McLaughlin, efkinel lo, Martin Paull, Ben Wynne-Simmons, Ivo Danihelka, Kevin Winoto, Jonathan Killin, Stephan Giersche, William Billy Robillard, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, THOMAS N TAMADA, Andrew McGhee, Paul Brown, David Schick, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Rebecca Pan -- The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:53:20

Are Viruses Alive? - with Carl Zimmer

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,Are viruses alive or are they lifeless packages of protein and nucleic acid? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/6QXFvaHi7LM 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 is. Join New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer as he explores the boundaries of life, encountering viruses and other strange residents of the borderlands. Carl Zimmer is the author of fourteen books about science. Zimmer’s column "Matter" appears each week in the New York Times. His writing has earned a number of awards, including the Stephen Jay Gould Prize, awarded by the Society for the Study of Evolution. His book, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, won the 2019 National Academies Communication Award. The Guardian named it the best science book of 2018. Zimmer is a familiar voice on radio programs such as Radiolab and professor adjunct at Yale University. He is, to his knowledge, the only writer after whom both a species of tapeworm and an asteroid have been named. This talk was recorded on 26 August 2021. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: efkinel lo, Abdelkhalek Ayad, Martin Paull, Ben Wynne-Simmons, Ivo Danihelka, Hamza, Paulina Barren, Metzger, Kevin Winoto, Jonathan Killin, János Fekete, Mehdi Razavi, Mark Barden, Taylor Hornby, Rasiel Suarez, Stephan Giersche, William 'Billy' Robillard, Scott Edwardsen, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Gou Ranon, Christina Baum, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Adam Leos, Michelle J. Zamarron, Fairleigh McGill, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, Anonymous, Robert Reinecke, Paul Brown, Lasse T. Stendan, David Schick, Joe Godenzi, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Greg Nagel, and Rebecca Pan. --- Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:58:50

What Do Our Brains Do When We're Dreaming?- with Mark Solms

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,Sigmund Freud was the first scientist to support the popular notion that dreams are meaningful. Fifty years later, the discovery of REM sleep thoroughly discredited the notion. Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/SgdbguclqSk Mark's latest book "The Hidden Spring" is available now: https://geni.us/CWaA As is his text book on the science of sleep: https://geni.us/CrFO Mark Solms explores the mechanisms behind the dreaming brain and what dreams really mean. He discusses where the research on sleep, generated like clockwork by the ‘mindless’ brainstem, stands today. Mark Solms has spent his entire career investigating the mysteries of consciousness. Best known for identifying the brain mechanisms of dreaming and for bringing psychoanalytic insights into modern neuroscience, he is director of neuropsychology in the Neuroscience Institute of the University of Cape Town, honorary lecturer in neurosurgery at the Royal London Hospital School of Medicine, and an honorary fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists. This talk was recorded on 4th May 2021. 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: Ivo Danihelka, Hamza, Paulina Barren, Metzger, Kevin Winoto, Jonathan Killin, János Fekete, Mehdi Razavi, Mark Barden, Taylor Hornby, Rasiel Suarez, Stephan Giersche, William 'Billy' Robillard, Scott Edwardsen, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Gou Ranon, Christina Baum, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Adam Leos, Michelle J. Zamarron, Andrew Downing, Fairleigh McGill, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, Anonymous, Roger Shaw, Robert Reinecke, Paul Brown, Lasse T. Stendan, David Schick, Joe Godenzi, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Greg Nagel, and Rebecca Pan. --- The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

00:05:41

How Do We Know That the Earth's Magnetic Poles Have Flipped? - Christmas Lectures with James Jackson

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1 views 3 years ago

00:57:39

The Science of Light and Lasers | Szydlo's At Home Science

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1 views 4 years ago

00:59:19

The Extreme World of Ultra Intense Lasers - with Kate Lancaster

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1 views 9 years ago