The Royal Institution Courses

Metal Mayhem - Exploring the Exciting World of Metals

A chemistry demonstration exploring metals’ unusual transformations, from liquid metals solidifying to solid metals dissolving and reacting.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 23 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

How Sunlight Affects Our Bodies and Minds

A science talk tracing sunlight’s effects on sleep, physical health, and mental wellbeing, from ancient solstice celebrations to modern sleep labs.

• YouTube
• 56 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Is Obesity a Choice? The Genetics of Human Appetite

Giles Yeo explains how genetic differences in hunger and brain control of food intake shape obesity, challenging the idea that weight is simply a matter of personal choice.

• YouTube
• 59 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Engineering Skyscrapers: From Materials to Modern Marvels

Roma Agrawal traces how concrete, steel, and engineering breakthroughs made ever taller skyscrapers possible.

• YouTube
• 55 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

There is No Algorithm for Truth - Science Communication in the Age of Social Media

Tom Scott examines how social media rewards popularity and view counts, and what that pressure means for communicating science truthfully.

• YouTube
• 1 hour
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Harnessing the Power of Immunology to Heal Ourselves

Explores how immune responses and microbes interact, and how understanding that relationship could lead to new medicines and therapies.

• YouTube
• 47 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Microorganisms: The Future of Food, Fuel and Pharmaceuticals

A look at how single-celled microorganisms could help produce future food, fuels, and medicines.

• YouTube
• 42 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

What Made Our Universe?

A cosmologist explores what the universe is made of, how galaxy filaments fit into its large-scale structure, and how the universe came to be.

• YouTube
• 34 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Investigating the Periodic Table with Experiments

A demonstration filled investigation of the periodic table, braving elements from argon to zinc.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 26 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Why Space Itself May Be Quantum in Nature

Jim Baggott explains loop quantum gravity, an approach that predicts space itself is quantum in nature.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 9 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Upgrading the Particle Physics Toolkit - The Future Circular Collider

Physicists discuss how a proposed 100-kilometer collider could extend the search for discoveries beyond the Large Hadron Collider.

• YouTube
• 1 hour
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

What Makes Me, Me? - Christmas Lectures 2018

Examines what makes humans human and what makes each person an individual.

• YouTube
• 57 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

How Can Chemistry Make Our Society More Sustainable?

Explore how improved catalysts could turn waste into transport fuel and convert carbon dioxide into useful fuels and chemicals.

• YouTube
• 50 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

How to Think Like a Mathematician - Applying Logic to Real-World Situations

Eugenia Cheng shows how mathematical logic can clarify everyday arguments about politics, privilege, and fake news.

• YouTube
• 50 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

What Makes Us Human? - Exploring Human Uniqueness in Evolution

An evolutionary tour asks which supposedly human traits also appear in other species, and what makes human culture unusually complex.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video