The Royal Institution
114 episodes listed below
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Explore a new area of science every month from the world's sharpest minds. 'From the Theatre' episodes every second Wednesday of the month, bringing you talks from the Ri's world-renowned Theatre. Ri Science Podcast original episodes every last Wednesday of the month, lifting the lid on the science all around us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Researchers explain both their findings and the practical methods, instruments and uncertainties behind them.
Ri Science Podcast gives researchers room to explain how knowledge is made, while the host keeps returning to what a method can actually reveal.
Lobster-eye optics for Mercury; your next existential question is whether AI can be conscious.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A careful tour of consciousness, prediction, and the uneasy question of conscious AI.
The piece treats consciousness as both a scientific and philosophical problem, and it stays strongest when it moves from the central question into the methods behind it.
Sound waves are framed as a practical bridge between computer science and applied acoustics.
Sound waves are treated as a working bridge between computer science, human-computer interaction, holography, and levitation, not as a loose metaphor. Holography is also placed in practical settings such as medical ultrasound imaging and industrial sensing and measurement.
Pooja Swali shows how damaged ancient DNA can revise human history and track pathogens over time.
Ancient DNA comes across as fragile, damaged genetic material recovered from old specimens, useful partly because its wear can help separate it from modern contamination.
A brisk, compact tour of science communication, health research, STEM access, animal biology, and female athletes' injury research.
Ri Science Podcast's "Science wrapped" treats a busy year in science as a brisk guided tour, moving from climate change and the brain to sickle cell treatments, a dog's microbiome, STEM education, the building industry, and serious knee injuries in female athletes.
Mercury's overlooked status opens onto exoplanets, surface chemistry, and BepiColombo's lobster-eye optics.
Mercury gets treated as more than the overlooked small planet near the Sun. Susie Imber, a professor of space physics at the University of Leicester, makes the case for why it matters beyond its own orbit, linking Mercury to the study of exoplanets and to the larger question of…
A clear, measured history of space imaging, from early photography to JWST.
The episode treats the 200-year history of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES as a way to watch scientific understanding change, then brings that history into sharper focus through the story of space images.
A clear look at why exoplanets matter, though some of the detail runs dense.
Jonathan Tennyson treats exoplanets as something close to home, not just distant points of light, and that shift gives the piece its shape. He is strongest when he keeps the focus on how much is still unknown, and on the role of the tools that make the work possible rather than…
A serious look at inflammation's role in Alzheimer's and where the research is headed.
Alzheimer's is presented as a crippling neurodegenerative disease with a complicated biology, and Tommy Akinbade keeps the focus on neuroinflammation without losing the thread.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
Ri Science Podcast brings Tommy Akingbade, a PhD student in the final stages of a neuroinflammation project at the University of Cambridge and founder of the Black Women in Science Network, to discuss the role of inflammation in Alzheimer's disease.
Jonathan Tennyson discusses his work on exoplanets, including techniques like spectroscopy, the MAUVE mission to study stellar flares, and the ExoMol database for identifying molecules.
Becky Shipley, a professor of healthcare engineering at UCL and chief research officer at UCL Partners, describes how a maths background led her from Oxford into engineering and healthcare research.
Professor Ivan Parkin discusses his research on nanomaterials and thin-film coatings for various applications.
Anil Seth uses Thomas Nagel's 1976 bat question on the Ri Science Podcast to define consciousness as "something it is like" to be an organism.
["Sriram Subramanian, a UCL professor of computer science and co-founder of AcoustoFab and Ultrahaptics, explains how sound waves can levitate millimeter-scale objects and shape acoustic holograms.", "He links the field to Dennis Gabor's 1947 holography idea, then says holograms already show up in medical ultrasound imaging, industrial sensing, credit cards, and passports.", "The conversation moves from polystyrene beads and 3D displays to contactless sample handling in drug discovery, where he says contamination and repeated transfers are major constraints.", "He also traces Ultrahaptics back to 2010 Kinect-era interaction research and says the next step is learning to 'program matter' with precise wave fronts."]
Pooja Swali of University College London explains how degraded DNA from teeth, bones, and other specimens can reveal pathogen history across hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions of years.
Ri Science Podcast's “Best of 2025: Science wrapped” revisits discussions on climate attribution, heat-related cognitive load, antimicrobial resistance, women's football injuries, gut microbiomes, AlphaFold, sickle-cell treatments, and data-centre cooling.
Suzie Imber of the University of Leicester explains why Mercury matters for interpreting exoplanets found close to other stars.
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, the Royal Institution’s 200th Christmas Lecturer, connects the 2025 lectures to space science, demos, and her work on James Webb Space Telescope instrumentation.
A science podcast featuring talks from the Royal Institution's theatre and original episodes on everyday science.
Forensic anthropologist Sue Black discusses how life history is written into anatomy, using examples from real conflicts and cases.
Astronaut Catherine Sullivan recounts her role in launching, rescuing, and maintaining the Hubble Space Telescope.
Rory Sutherland's 10 May 2019 Royal Institution talk argues that 'magic' is impossible in physics but possible in human perception and behaviour, so economics' attempt to mimic physical science carries a hidden 'creative opportunity cost'.
A panel discussion on the science, medical applications, and UK regulation of medical cannabis, featuring a neurologist and campaigners.
Historian Andrew Robinson discusses Albert Einstein's time in Britain as a refugee before World War II, his scientific work, and his eventual move to the USA.