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?
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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.
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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.
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,Ri,Royal Institution,royal institute,WfCItXZ7dFo,UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, Knowledge, channel_UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, video_WfCItXZ7dFo,2025 is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, as marked by the UN, to celebrate 100 years since the birth of quantum mechanics. But quantum science is one of the least diverse areas of science in terms of gender and other protected characteristics.
Jess Wade, a physicist and lecturer in functional materials at Imperial College London, has been fighting the inequality in quantum physics and beyond by creating thousands of Wikipedia pages for women scientists. Jess joins us this month to discuss the past, present, and future of quantum science along with what can be done to increase diversity within the field.
Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to be notified as soon as episodes are released!
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Jess Wade is a British physicist in the Blackett Laboratory at Imperial College London, specialising in Raman spectroscopy. Her research investigates polymer-based organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Her public engagement work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) advocates for women in physics as well as tackling systemic biases such as gender and racial bias on Wikipedia. Read more about here here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jess_Wade
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Producer: Lia Hale
Assistant producers: Katie Mortimer, Isla Nakano
Interviewer: Lia Hale
Music: Joseph Sandy
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,Ri,Royal Institution,royal institute,MdOCu2Gr-0g,UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, Knowledge, channel_UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, video_MdOCu2Gr-0g,Join this channel to get access to perks:
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,Ri,Royal Institution,royal institute,PLc0BCjbFcg,UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, Knowledge,Religion, channel_UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, video_PLc0BCjbFcg,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
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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.
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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
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,Ri,Royal Institution,royal institute,sO5adbV_mu8,UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, Knowledge, channel_UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw, video_sO5adbV_mu8,Watch the Q&A for Sean Carroll's lecture on Einstein's equation explaining spacetime. You can watch the original lecture here: https://youtu.be/BRudidBcfXk
The original lecture and this Q&A were recorded at the Ri on Monday 14 August 2023.
Our lecture Q&As are usually a perk for our YouTube Science Supporters, as a thank you for helping us bring science to more people, but we're publishing this one for everyone as Sean's talk has been so popular.
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,1,Join this channel to get access to perks:
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,1,Recorded on July 20, 1996.
With the recent announcement that Oppenheimer, the film directed by Christopher Nolan, had garnered 11 Academy Award nominations, it seemed timely to pull from the archives this rarely seen episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson from 1996 (the third episode ever shot), featuring nuclear physicists and Hoover senior fellows Edward Teller and Sidney Drell. Teller was involved in the development of the first atomic bomb and is prominently featured in Oppenheimer. Drell was an expert in the field of nuclear arms control and cofounder of the Center for International Security and Arms Control, now the Center for International Security and Cooperation. He later was deputy director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) from 1969 until his retirement from the lab in 1998. In this episode, Teller and Drell engage in a lively debate about the role of nuclear weapons and how they should be regulated in the late 20th century.
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,1,Explore and delve into fusion energy's complex scientific underpinnings.
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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.
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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.
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,1,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
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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”.
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,1,January 10, 2024
Hoover Institution | Stanford University
Matteo Maggiori, Moghadam Family Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, discussed “A Framework for Geoeconomics,” a paper with Christopher Clayton (Yale School of Management), and Jesse Schreger (Columbia Business School).
PARTICIPANTS
Matteo Maggiori, John Taylor, Anat Admati, Annelise Anderson, Michael Boskin, Jeremy Bulow, John Cochrane, Randi Dewitty, Doug Diamond, David Fedor, Andy Filardo, Pete Fisher, Jared Franz, Eyck Freymann, Eric Hanushek, Heikki Hietala, Ashil Jhaveri, Kenn Judd, Evan Koenig, Roman Kräussl, Tom Kulisz, David Laidler, Mauricio Larraine, Dennis Lockhart, Robert McCauley, Axel Merk, Alexander Mihalov, Ilian Mihov, Casey Mulligan, David Neumark, Ned Prescott, Valerie Ramey, Ned Prescott, Joshua Rauh, Gary Roughead, Flavio Rovida, Paola Sapienza, Jesse Schreger, Lawrence Schembri, Tom Stephenson, Jack Tatom, Victor Valcarcel, Mark Wynne
ISSUES DISCUSSED
Matteo Maggiori, Moghadam Family Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, discussed “A Framework for Geoeconomics,” a paper with Christopher Clayton (Yale School of Management), and Jesse Schreger (Columbia Business School).
John Taylor, the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University and the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution, was the moderator.
PAPER SUMMARY
Governments use their countries’ economic strength from existing financial and trade relationships to achieve geopolitical and economic goals. We refer to this practice as geoeconomics. We build a framework based on three core ingredients: limited contract enforceability, input-output linkages, and externalities. Geoeconomic power arises from the ability to jointly exercise threats across separate economic activities. A hegemon, like the United States, exerts its power on firms and governments in its economic network by asking these entities to take costly actions that manipulate the world equilibrium in the hegemon’s favor. We characterize the optimal actions and show that they take the form of mark-ups on goods or higher rates on lending, but also import restrictions and tariffs. Input-output amplification makes controlling some sectors more valuable for the hegemon since changes in the allocation of these strategic sectors have a larger influence on the world economy. This formalizes the idea of economic coercion as a combination of strategic pressure and costly actions. We apply the framework to two leading examples: national security externalities and the Belt and Road Initiative.
To read the paper click the following link
https://globalcapitalallocation.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/CMS_Strategic.pdf
To read the slides, click the following link
https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/CMS_Strategic_Slides.pdf
,1,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.
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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.
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