Browse all episodes of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

The fourth lecture in the series, 'Simple Signs and Complicated Communications', is considered lost, as there is no known copy of it.

If you do have a copy of the recording, the Royal Institution would love it if you got in touch at xmaslectures@ri.ac.uk to help us make all our CHRISTMAS LECTURES available for future generations.

Simple Signs and Complicated Communications

Dawkins discusses the amazing capabilities of the human body and contrasts these with the limited capabilities of computers and other man-made machines. He uses a small totem pole (which is used in ancestor worship) to illustrate the importance of studying our ancestors to understand how we've evolved.

Waking Up in the Universe

Dawkins' second lecture of the series examines the problem of design. He presents the audience with a number of simple objects, such as rocks and crystals, and notes that these objects have been formed by simple laws of physics and are therefore not designed. He then examines some designed objects - including a microscope, an electronic calculator, a pocket watch, and a clay pot - and notes that none of these objects could have possibly come about by sheer luck.

Designed and Designoid Objects

Dawkins starts the lecture coming in with a stick insect on his hand. He describes with how much details such a being imitates its environment, its almost like a key that fits a lock. He then shows another insect, namely a Leaf Insect, which basically looks exactly like a dead leaf.

Climbing Mount Improbable

Dawkins begins by relating the story of asking a little girl "what she thought flowers were 'for'." Her response is anthropocentric, that flowers are there for our benefit. Dawkins points out that many people throughout history have thought that the natural world existed for our benefit, with examples from Genesis and other literature.

The Ultraviolet Garden

Dawkins opens by talking how organisms “grow up” to understand the universe around them, which requires certain apparatus, such as a brain. But before brains can become large enough to model the universe they must develop from intermediate forms.

The Genesis of Purpose

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 1

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 2

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 3

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 4

The Cosmic Onion Lecture 5

The History in our Bones

The History in our Bones - Innovations And Novelty

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

This is the first in the 2003 series of Christmas Lectures.

Blast Off

Second in the 2003 series of Christmas Lectures, 'Voyage in space and time'.

Mission to Mars

Planet Patrol

Collision Course

Anybody Out There?

First lecture in the 2004 Christmas Lecture series 'To the ends of the earth: surviving antarctic extremes'.

Ice people

Second lecture in the 2004 Christmas Lecture series 'To the end of the earth: surviving antartic extremes'.

Ice life

Third lecture in the 2004 Christmas Lecture series 'To the end of the earth: surviving antartic extremes'.

Ice world

What did you have for your Christmas dinner? The traditional turkey? A vegetarian meal? And how did the turkey tradition start? What did people have for Christmas dinner 500 years ago? Just how is your Christmas meal turned into you? John takes us on a journey through time from our earliest ancestors, on the way exploring how scientists have come to understand the diets of our fossil ancestors from studying their teeth and bones and how differences in food habits among populations and cultures have arisen. We ask whether our diets today are a result of evolutionary adaptations or chance, and how origins of agriculture 10,000 years ago transformed the food habits of our ancestors as we moved from hunting and gathering to growing crops and keeping livestock. We humans are unique in the animal kingdom because we cook much of our food before we eat it. What has been the impact of cooking both on the range of foods we can eat and on our evolution? In this lecture we learn about genetic differences among populations in ability to deal with certain foods and come to understand why some like it hot, spicing up their food with chillies and other hot spices.

The Truth About Food: The Ape That Cooks

What is your favourite food? What are the things you wouldn't touch with a barge pole? Food may be fuel, but it's also something we really enjoy - unless it's one of those foods you can't stand. What is it about some food that makes it irresistible, while other food is a real turn off? In 'Yuck or yummy' we explore the sensory world of food. How do taste, appearance, texture, smell and even the name of the food affect our enjoyment? What goes on in the brain when we enjoy, or are revolted by particular foods? We ask whether or not we are programmed by our evolutionary past to like some foods more than others and how our own experiences early on might affect our preferences for life. One person's pleasure in food may be another's disgust. How do individual differences arise? We also enter the kitchen and explore the chemistry of cooking: for example what is it that happens to food when we grill it to make it so tasty? There are some real surprises in discovering how different flavours work together, and this can be used to create unexpected dishes for our enjoyment.

The Truth About Food: Yuck or Yummy?

Our bodies are made from the food we have eaten during our lifetime. To survive and grow we need to eat enough of each of the essential building blocks of the human body. How did scientists discover the right mix of nutrients and how does what we eat match up? Is it true that eating fish makes you brainier, carrots help you see in the dark and spinach will make you stronger? John takes us through the maze of diet and health. We uncover the truth behind the claims for different kinds of foods, including organic food, and ask whether we instinctively tend to choose the balance of nutrients our bodies need. In different parts of the world, people eat remarkably different diets, some entirely vegetarian, some largely meat or fish. How do these different populations manage to get the building blocks they need when they eat such different things? Lots of people try to lose weight by dieting. But does it work? And if so, what is the secret of successful dieting?

The Truth About Food: You Are What You Eat

We uncover the hidden and not so hidden dangers that might lurk in our food and explode some of the myths that surround these risks. Are you or any of your friends allergic to one kind of food or another? Perhaps as many as one in ten children has a food allergy and allergies can sometimes kill. What happens when people react to food with an allergy? Why is food allergy apparently on the increase? Have you ever suffered a bout of food poisoning? We take a look at that two-month old piece of cheese you find at the back of the fridge. It's covered in blue mould. It may look unappetising but is it dangerous? What are the microbes in food that could harm you? How do they get there? If you get food poisoning you might throw up: why does the body react like this? Food is made up of chemicals but you often read that 'chemicals in food' are dangerous, whether they are pesticide residues or artificial colours or flavourings added to our food. What is the truth behind this?

The Truth About Food: When Food Goes Wrong

Most of us get enough to eat, but roughly 800 million people in the world go hungry every day. The world's population is set to increase from about six billion today to nearly ten billion by 2050. Will more people inevitably go hungry? Is the earth capable of producing enough food for the future? In the 20th century the green revolution produced a lot more food for the world's rapidly expanding population, through a mixture of better crops, more fertilisers and pesticides and more efficient machinery. Is the same solution going to work in the 21st century? What will be the impacts on the environment? Many people rely on fish for their survival, but already the world's oceans are over-exploited. What will happen to fish stocks in years to come? In this glimpse of the future, John asks whether new farming methods such as genetically modified crops will be the solution, or whether we will all have to become vegetarians. Science is also blurring the boundaries between food, medicines and drugs. Will the future bring us the chocolate bar that treats heart disease or the mood-enhancing potato crisp?

The Truth About Food: Food for the Future

The secret life of numbers has fascinated people ever since humans learned to count. Join Marcus as he investigates where our numbers came from and where they are going, how big they can get and whether infinity is really a number. Explore the mysterious primes, the indivisible numbers. Just why did Beckham choose the number 23 shirt? And why do sunflowers have 89 petals? Find out how to try for the $1 million prize for cracking mathematics' biggest mystery.

The curious incident of the never-ending numbers

Ever wondered why bubbles are always round even if you blow them with a square frame? Or why footballs are made out of pentagons and hexagons? Take a tour through the mathematical and cultural world of shapes - from pyramids in Egypt to the domes of Italy, and from the shape of good dice to the smell of symmetry. We'll even take a trip into hyperspace and reveal how to see in four dimensions.

The story of the elusive shapes

Place your bets as we use maths to win at games. Logic is an important part of playing games and mathematics can help you plan the best strategy to win. Explore why some games are won or lost on the first move, how lateral thinking unlocks fiendish brainteasers, and why the economy, the law courts and even human relationships are one big game.

The secret of the winning streak

From the Caesar Cipher to the Da Vinci Code, people have been fascinated by secret messages. The mathematics of codes lets us to do everything from photographing the surface of Mars to shopping securely on eBay. Find out how prime numbers are now the key to codes which protect credit cards from internet hackers, and how, in the digital age, i-pods and digital TV are just a load of 0s and 1s.

The case of the uncrackable code

Mathematics is the ultimate fortune teller. It can predict if a new plane design will make it off the ground. It can plan the path of a spacecraft so it passes close to every planet on its journey through the solar system. But some of nature's equations are more tricky. Why is weather so hard to forecast? How will world populations evolve? The mathematics of chaos theory helps explain why problems like these are so challenging.

The quest to predict the future

Dr Montgomery examines the theme of respiration. Just like racing car engines, humans use oxygen to burn fuels and release the energy that powers each function in every cell. So how do we get the oxygen from the air to the cell, and what happens when oxygen levels in the air are dramatically reduced?

Dr Montgomery looks at the airways that carry the oxygen, and the rib-and-muscle bellows which drive air through them. He examines the lung and explains how it passes the oxygen on to the blood cells which grab and hold that oxygen. Then, viewers are shown how the heart pumps these cells around the body through a complex system of blood vessels, where the oxygen is passed onto the cells for another phase of processing.

In the second half of the lecture, Dr Montgomery meets some mountaineers who have climbed Everest where there is three-times less oxygen than at sea level. What happens to these people’s bodies when they struggle to stand at the very top of the world?

Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival: Peak Performance

Tonight’s lecture examines how food is processed and used by our cells. The food we eat contains the fuel we need to power our bodies. But what are these fuels? How do we get them from our dinner plates to our cells? And what other things are there in the food apart from fuel? Dr Montgomery explains what happens to the fuel and oxygen in a cell, describing how food is converted into an energy currency to be spent in different ways around the body.

As well as focusing on normal function of the body, the lecture also explores how the body reacts to abnormal levels of food intake. What effect does gluttony have on the body? What happens when we are starved of food, or deprived of water? What happens when we become dehydrated? How long can someone survive without any fluids? And what happens if we miss some key bits of food out of our diet?

Finally, Dr Montgomery turns his attention to people who have survived on the edge of existence as he meets some real-life castaways. How did their bodies cope without access to food or water for so long?

Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival: Completely Stuffed

How the body copes with extremes of temperature. Humans live in some extraordinary places –from the middle of the Sahara desert to the frozen wastelands of Alaska. Take a snake to the North Pole, and it will stop moving in minutes; take a cat to the desert and it will be dead in hours. So how can some humans survive such extremes, and could anyone?

Dr Montgomery explains how our bodies burn fuel using oxygen to create an energy currency, which in turn creates heat. Viewers will discover whether shivering really works, whether a hot meal makes a difference to our internal body temperature and whether mothers are right when they say that you should wear a hat on a cold day. But what about when it is too hot? Where is the blood diverted in order to cool the body down? What is sweat and how does it work? And why do dogs pant, and humans not?

Finally, Dr Montgomery meets some people who have survived in the very coldest places and the hottest places on Earth. What are the limits to human survival, and how close did these people come to death?

Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival: Grilled and Chilled

The focus of tonight’s presentation is stress and exertion. When faced with a threat like the approach of a predator, a human’s natural response is to turn and flee. Yet a soldier facing enemy guns can choose to stand and fight. Such a decision and the subsequent physical work required involves burning a huge amount of energy. So how does the body deliver such a large amount of energy so rapidly? What happens to the heart, lungs and blood vessels used to transport the energy, and how is it used once it is delivered?

In addressing some of these questions, Dr Montgomery takes a close look at the workings of the amazing, high-performance, all-terrain vehicle that is the human body. Viewers will learn what the skeleton is made of, how muscles move the skeleton, what these muscles are made of, how they create force, and how they are controlled by the computer in our skulls.

With the help of some intrepid and athletic volunteers, Dr Montgomery explores if all muscles are the same and why it is that some people can sprint well, while others are adept at running for long distances. He then introduces somebody whose ability to keep going despite physical exhaustion saved his life.

Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival: Fight, Flight and Fright

Tonight’s presentation examines the part genetics has to play in our ability to survive. Is everyone’s ability to survive the same? Faced with the same perils, would we all cope just as well? And if not, is it down to luck or relative toughness, or is there such a thing as the will to live?

Dr Montgomery’s main focus tonight is the complex world of genes –what are they and how do they make us different. How much of the way we are is ‘nature’ and how much ‘nurture’? Do our genes influence our chances of survival? Can they protect us from infections, or help us survive them? Can they allow us to run further and faster? Can they even make us feel more or less pain?

In the second half of his lecture, Dr Montgomery talks to some people who have survived in the face of adversity. To what degree do they credit their endurance to training and preparation, toughness, the will to live, genetics or just good, old-fashioned luck?

Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival: Luck, Genes and Stupidity

This year’s lectures are conducted by Professor Chris Bishop, chief research scientist with Microsoft Research and Professor of Computer Science at Edinburgh University. After graduating with first class honours in Physics from Oxford, Professor Bishop went on to earn a PhD in theoretical physics from Edinburgh University. His research interests include probabilistic approaches to machine learning, as well as their application to fields such as computer vision. 

Professor Bishop goes on a fascinating exploration of the extraordinary world of the silicon chip and attempts to answer the plethora of questions associated with this technology. How is it possible to build a machine as complex as this with a billion tiny components packed into a space the size of a postage stamp? What are the challenges that are making it harder to continue the incredible improvement in speed, and what ideas are being explored to overcome them? Can new kinds of computers be built that are based on individual molecules? Can single electrons be used to store information? Could computation machines exist without consuming energy? 

As scientists race to make computers faster and cheaper than ever before, Professor Bishop also asks whether scientists will eventually hit a wall. After decades of continuing enhancements and ever-increasing processing speeds, is there anything of significance that is yet to be achieved in the world of computing?

Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Breaking The Speed Limit

Computers now outnumber people throughout the world. But less than one per cent of these machines take the form of desktop or laptop computers. As microchips get smaller and faster, they are being built into a huge range of objects and devices, including such everyday items as washing machines, toys and even clothing. People interact with dozens if not hundreds of computers on a daily basis, often without even realising it. But very few of these have mice and keyboards. As computers become more widespread, new ways of communicating with them are needed. 

In this lecture, Professor Bishop reveals state-of the-art advancements in computer interaction, including new touch-screen technology. Surface computing allows people to manipulate documents just as they would pieces of paper on a table. Users are able to perform a host of functions, including organising and resizing photos, poring over maps and making selections from takeaway menus. The interface is capable of processing the requests of multiple users. Professor Bishop also demonstrates 3-D displays and flexible screens that can be rolled up when they are not being used.

However, it is not just displays that are being revolutionised. As the number of computers grows, their power will be further exploited via networking – both with each other and the internet. In the future, the traditional shopping list looks set to become a thing of the past as microchips may be included in the packaging of consumables. When a pint of milk expires or pantry supplies are running low, a shopper will receive a text message or email informing them that they need to top up on certain items.

Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Chips With Everything

Computers are the most versatile machines ever invented, and the same piece of hardware can be used for thousands of different purposes. They can create virtual worlds with extraordinary realism, play chess better than almost any human, and even isolate a person’s position to within a few metres anywhere on the planet. What makes this possible is something that cannot be seen, felt or touched, but without it the digital revolution would never have happened. Professor Bishop investigates the software that brings a machine to life, and turns it into a phone, a music player, a game, or any number of other devices – including ones not even imagined by the creator of the hardware. 

So what is software, and how is it stored inside the computer? Is data the same thing as information? Why are some problems just too hard for any computer to solve, and how can this be used to a scientist’s advantage? To answer these questions, Professor Bishop explores how software has touched almost every aspect of life. He finds out how powerful new computers running sophisticated programs are able to do thousands of tasks at once, and why the simultaneous calculations made by a quantum computer may outnumber atoms in the universe. 

Finally, with the help of a live satellite link, the studio audience will put their burning questions about software to one of the pioneers of computing – co-founder of Microsoft and the world’s third richest man, Bill Gates.

Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Ghost In The Machine

The impact of computers increased dramatically when they were connected together to form the internet. Millions of users around the world log on to the web every day, forming part of a network that has revolutionised how people communicate, live, work and shop – yet few people could actually explain the inner workings of the system. 

Just how does information make its way across the web, through hundreds of computers to the right destination? How does a search engine find the desired page amongst billions of possibilities in a fraction of a second? What will the web be like in years to come? And are credit card numbers safe when they are sent out into the ether? 

In this lecture, Chris Bishop untangles some of the mysteries of the web. He reveals one of the most surprising results in computer science, and shows how it is used to make web pages secure. He also studies the different ways of scrambling information to stop eavesdroppers from reading it, and explains how quantum physics can provide a secret means of transmitting data over the internet.

The future of the web remains a hotly debated topic. Experts predict a range of innovations, including an increase in the number of mobile devices that can access the web. Yet questions of web security, privacy, government regulation and the impact on social interactions as people spend more time online remain areas of great speculation. It is clear that the internet will be a major part of the future – but that future is still to be shaped.

Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Untangling The Web

Computers are extraordinary machines, able to perform feats of arithmetic that far exceed the capabilities of any human. They can store a huge quantity of data and recall it perfectly in the blink of an eye. They can even beat the chess world champion at his own game. So why do computers struggle to solve apparently simple tasks such as understanding speech, or translating text between languages? Why is a three-year-old child better at recognising everyday objects than the world’s most powerful supercomputer? 

In the last of this year’s lectures, Chris Bishop looks at one of the great frontiers of computer science. He explains how some of the toughest computational problems are now being tackled by giving computers the ability to learn solutions for themselves. This has led to impressive progress with problems such as recognising handwriting and finding information on the web. 

Scientists are particularly concerned with the area of computer vision – the technology of making computers see what is placed in front of them. If perfected, this ability could be applied to all manner of practical uses, from medical scanners to cars that run on autopilot.

However, exactly what constitutes intelligence remains an area of much philosophical debate. It can include skills such as logic, linguistic ability, spatial awareness, musical talent and inter personal skills. For many scientists, it remains to be seen how many of these abilities – if any – can be successfully developed in computers, and whether digital intelligence is even comparable to its human equivalent. There are many challenges ahead in the quest to build the ultimate computer.

Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Digital Intelligence

In this years Royal Institution Christmas Lectures ecologist Professor Sue Hartley - only the fourth woman to present the lectures since they began in 1825 - shows how the epic 300-million-year war between plants and animals has shaped us and the world we live in. Plants may seem harmless, but Professor Hartley reveals that the opposite is the case: they've had to develop terrifying and devious ways to defend themselves and attack their plant and animal enemies. Vicious poisons, lethal materials and even cunning forms of communicating with unlikely allies are just some of the weapons in their armoury that have seen off everything from dinosaurs to caterpillars. And Professor Hartley demonstrates how humans have turned plants into food, medicines and drugs and reveals what is likely to happen next in the epic struggle between plants and animals. In this first lecture Professor Hartley reveals how, despite animals attempts to destroy plants by eating them, plants are winning the war.

Plant Wars

Ecologist Professor Sue Hartley continues to show how the epic 300-million-year war between plants and animals has shaped us and the world we live in. The life of a herbivore is not a happy one. For a start, plants are the wrong sort of food for animals: they are low in essential nutrients and getting any of those nutrients in the face of flora defences is even harder. In this programme, Professor Hartley reveals the many different ways plant-eating animals, from sloths to aphids, have evolved to overcome these problems. Herbivores use all sorts of tricks: they employ "friendly" bacteria in their gut to extract as many nutrients as possible from indigestible plants. They also have continuously growing teeth to grind down tough plants like grasses. Professor Hartley also reveals some of the many ways herbivores cope with plant poisons, and that some herbivores even steal plants' poisons to use in their own defence against their predators

The Animals Strike Back

Can a plant, something without a mouth, ears or eyes, communicate?

Yes! Plants do communicate but not in ways that are obvious to humans. Instead of barking or shrieking when they are attacked, they release chemical ‘signals' into the air which can be detected by other plants. But these physical and chemical defences cost energy that could be used to grow instead of being used for protection. Do they protect themselves, or grow?

Talking Trees

Lunch anyone?

Human agriculture has usually tried to disarm plant defences and increase plant nutrient content. Our domestic varieties of wheat and cabbage now look, and taste, very different to their wild relatives. White carrots anyone? We cook, cure, freeze and otherwise process plants until they become edible and more nutritious. We grow them to epic proportions. And now, using the latest scientific research, we have the opportunity to grow them more efficiently and perhaps more healthily using genetic modification.

Dangerous to Delicious

With changing climate it is difficult to predict who will win the 300 million year war. What has gone wrong when herbivores get the upper hand and strip plants bare? The battle ground is changing such that different conditions could favour either the plants or the herbivores. When the balance is broken we could have an ‘outbreak’, which is a situation where one side of the war gets an unfair advantage and grows unchecked. Will climate change compromise the abilities of plants, including our crops, to defend themselves?

Weapons of the Future

How can a hamster survive falling from the top of a skyscraper, ants carry over 100 times their own body weight and geckos climb across the ceiling?

In the first of this year's Christmas lectures, Dr Mark Miodownik investigates why size matters in animal behaviour. He reveals how the science of materials - the stuff from which everything is made - can explain some of the most extraordinary and surprising feats in the animal kingdom.

By the end, you will understand why you will never see an elephant dance.

Why Elephants Can't Dance

Dr Mark Miodownik zooms into the microscopic world beneath our fingertips. In this unfamiliar landscape, strange forces dominate the world and common sense goes out of the window. He reveals how this tiny hidden world can make objects behave like magic, and discovers the secrets of the extraordinary metals that make jet engines possible.

With a mass audience taste test, Mark reveals why chocolate is actually one of the most sophisticated and highly engineered materials on the planet, using special crystals designed to melt in the mouth. He looks forward to new era of self-healing materials where a broken mobile phone or car bumper could heal itself and how, one day, material scientists might even create artificial life.

Why Chocolate Melts And Jet Engines Don't

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

In the last of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Mark Miodownik investigates the world of the very big and very tall. He reveals that, at this scale, everything is governed by a battle with one of the strangest forces in the universe - gravity.

With help from acrobats, levitation devices, spiders, birthday cake candles and even some sticky goo, Mark discovers how gravity can make solid rock behave like a liquid and investigates whether one day it might be possible to build a structure from Earth into space, taking us beyond the reach of gravity without the use of rocket.

Why Mountains Are So Small

Bruce Hood measures the brain's nerve cells in action, reads someone's mind from 100 miles away, and reveals how the brain creates its own version of reality.

What's in Your Head?

Professor Bruce Hood tests the limits of the memory, finding out how humans learn, how the brain takes shortcuts and why multitasking can be dangerous.

Who's in Charge Here Anyway?

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

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

The medieval alchemists made elements react to create magnificent shows, enthralling kings and commoners alike, but their secrets were never revealed until now. In the first of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Peter Wothers explores what the alchemists knew about the air we breathe and reveals how our modern knowledge of these elements can be used to control fire, defy gravity and harness the power of a lightning storm. Peter is joined by the cast of the musical Loserville and is helped in his exploration of the 118 modern elements by a periodic table made from audience members at the Royal Institution.

Air: The Elixir of Life

Medieval alchemists wrote of a mysterious fountain of youth, whose waters could rejuvenate anyone who drank them. But can water really be magical? In the second of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Peter Wothers drinks from the fountain and finds out whether the elements lurking in the water can restore his youth. Along the way he discovers how exploding balloons could solve the energy crisis, how water contains the remains of the most violent reactions on Earth and that the real secret to eternal youth might be drinking no water at all. Peter is joined in his quest by Paralympic champion cyclist Mark Colbourne and finds out what happens when the two most reactive elements on the periodic table, caesium and fluorine, meet each other.

Water: The Fountain of Youth

For centuries alchemists have tried to turn base metals into gold. But is such a feat even possible? In the final Christmas Lecture, Dr Peter Wothers explores the elements within the earth and discovers just how difficult it is for chemists to extract the planet's greatest treasures. He discovers how our knowledge of the elements can allow us to levitate, turn carbon dioxide into diamonds and maybe turn lead into gold. Peter is joined by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Professor Sir Harry Kroto and together they find out whether a member of the audience is really worth their weight in gold and what happens when you set fire to a diamond.

Earth: The Philosopher's Stone

One of the greatest conundrums of life is how we emerge from a single cell into a walking, talking, multi-trillion-celled organism that we call the human body.

In the first of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford reveals just how this incredible transformation takes place. Using dramatic live experiments she shows how each of those trillions of cells knows what to do, when to do it and how to organise themselves to carry out vital specialist roles in our body.

Where Do I Come From?

In the second of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford unravels this mystery of life. She reveals that the extraordinary diversity has all come about by genetic mutation. Life revolves around the survival of the fittest mutant.

Am I a Mutant?

In this year's final Christmas Lecture, Dr Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford, tackles a question that has intrigued scientists and natural philosophers for centuries. The cycle of life and death affects all cells, but Alison reveals a shocking truth - that 'cell death' plays an important part in life. It enables the development and survival of most multi-celled organisms from hedgehogs to humans.

Could I Live Forever?

Inspired by fellow Geordie inventor Joseph Swan, Prof Danielle George attempts to play a computer game on the windows of a skyscraper using hundreds of light bulbs.

When Joseph Swan demonstrated the first working light bulb in 1878 he could never have dreamed that in 2014 we’d be surrounded by super-bright LED screens and lights that could be controlled using mobile phones. In this lecture, Danielle will explain how these technologies work and show how they can be adapted to help you realise your own light bulb moments.  She’ll show you how to send wireless messages using a barbeque, control a firework display with your laptop and use a torch to browse the internet.

The Light Bulb Moment

Inspired by Alexander Graham Bell, Prof Danielle George attempts to beam a special guest into the theatre via hologram, using the technology found in a mobile phone.

When Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the first telephone in 1876, he could never have dreamed that in 2014 we’d all be carrying wire-free phones in our pockets and be able to video chat is crystal clear HD across the world. In this lecture, Danielle will explain how these technologies work and show how they can adapted to help keep you connected to the people around you. She’ll show you how to control paintball cannons with a webcam and turn your smartphone into a microscope whilst also investigating a device that allows you to feel invisible objects in mid-air.

Making Contact

Inspired by the Royal Institution’s very own Michael Faraday, Prof Danielle George attempts to use simple motors to construct the world’s greatest robot orchestra.

When Michael Faraday demonstrated the first electric motor in 1822, he could never have dreamed that in 2014 we’d be surrounded by mechanical devices capable of performing nearly every human task. In this lecture, Danielle will explain how these robotic and motor-driven appliances work and show how they can adapted to help you kick start a technological revolution. She’ll show you how to turn a washing machine into a wind turbine, how Lego can solve a Rubik’s Cube and how the next Mars rover will traverse an alien world.

A New Revolution

In the first lecture, Kevin explores and probes second by second what it takes to 'lift off' into space. With Tim only days into his six-month mission, he helps Kevin answer what keeps astronauts safe and on track as they are propelled into orbit.

How do you control the energy of 300 tonnes of liquid fuel? What happens to your body if you don't wear a spacesuit? And how do you catch up with a space station travelling at 17,500 mph to finally get inside?

With explosive live experiments, guest astronauts in the lecture theatre, and planetary scientist Monica Grady direct from the launch pad in Kazakhstan, we learn all this and more as those thrilling minutes of lift off are recreated.

Lift Off!

In the second lecture, Kevin explores life in orbit on board the International Space Station. As Tim settles in to his new home he sends special reports about what it takes to live and work in space.

Four hundred kilometres above the Earth, hurtling at a speed of 17,500mph, astronauts' bones and muscles waste away, the oxygen they breathe is artificially made, and they face constant threats from micrometeorites, radiation and extreme temperatures. If a medical emergency strikes, Tim is a very long way from home.

In its 15-year lifetime, the International Space Station has never had a major accident. With a British astronaut in orbit, gravity-defying experiments and guest astronauts in the lecture theatre, Dr Fong shows us how to survive life in orbit.

Life in Orbit

In the third and final lecture, Kevin explores the the next frontier of human space travel. Live from the Station hurtling at 17,500mph, 400 km above the Earth, Tim answers questions directly from the children in the lecture theatre audience. With Tim's help out in Earth's orbit, Kevin investigates how the next generation of astronauts will be propelled across the vast chasm of space to Mars and beyond.

So, how will life be artificially sustained as we travel the millions of kilometres to the red planet and on into the cosmos? How will our food last for three years or more? And what is waiting what for us when we finally land? With earth-shattering experiments, top space scientists and our astronaut live from space, Dr Fong reveals how we'll survive that voyage to space's next frontier and beyond.

The Next Frontier

Saiful Islam talks about how to generate and store energy. To begin, Saiful investigates how to generate energy without destroying the planet in the process.

Let There Be Light!

Saiful Islam investigates how humans as living machines actually use energy, asking whether it's possible to 'supercharge' the human body and increase its performance.

People Power

Saiful Islam explores how to store energy. With the UK generating far more energy today than 80 years ago, finding better ways to store it is vital for our futures.

Fully Charged

Prof Sophie Scott uses hissing cockroaches, chirping crickets and rumbling elephants to explore how humans and animals have evolved to use sound to send messages.

Say It with Sound

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

Silent Messages

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

The Word

Professor Alice Roberts meets our ancient ancestral family, from armadillos to sharks, and discovers our true place in the tree of life. With 4D scanning, giant origami and a ukulele, they will explore evolution like never before.

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

What Makes Me Human?

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

What Makes Me, Me?

Dr Hannah Fry, through a host of live experiments, uncovers the secrets of luck to discover what really controls our destiny, from dodging erupting volcanoes to pulling Christmas crackers.

How to Get Lucky

Dr Hannah Fry reveals how data-gobbling algorithms have taken over our lives and now control almost everything we do, without us even realising.

How to Bend the Rules

Dr Hannah Fry tests the limits of our control, from gravity-defying stunts to human-sized drones, and delves into the world of fake news to separate the truth from the lies.

How Can We All Win?

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

Engine Earth

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

Water World

Dr Tara Shine takes a deep breath and explores the gases that make up the air we breath. One of them might provide the answer for heating and transport in the future.

Up In The Air

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

The Invisible Enemy

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

The Perfect Storm

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

Fighting Back

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

Dead Body

Professor Sue Black investigates a Christmas murder mystery with leading police experts, forensic scientists and an award-winning dog.

Missing Body

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

Living Body

Professor Mike Wooldridge explores the nature of artificial intelligence. By using experiments and demonstrations, he investigates how AI learns and what it can do.

How to Build an Intelligent Machine

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

My AI Life

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?

The Future of AI: Dream or a Nightmare?

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner. Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture series in 1825. This came at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. Faraday presented a total of nineteen series in all.

All Episodes of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

Browse all episodes of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

Season 1