The Royal Institution Courses

DNA Family Secrets: Genealogy and Forensics Through Genetic Analysis

1 rating

Explore the fascinating world of genetic genealogy with Professor Turi King, covering DNA's role in tracing ancestry, solving historical mysteries, and its impact on forensics and family history research.

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

Using Lasers to Create Fusion and Save the World

1 rating

Explore the potential of lasers in creating fusion energy, from basic principles to cutting-edge research, with physicist Kate Lancaster's journey through this extreme world of science.

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

Measurement and Navigation in War - Lecture 5

1 rating

Explore how navigation evolved from chronometers to satellites, revealing the dual-edged nature of precise positioning technology in both peaceful exploration and warfare applications.

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

Neuromorphic Computing - Faster Solutions for Scientific Breakthroughs

1 rating

Explore neuromorphic computing with Johan Mentink, learning how brain-inspired computing paradigms offer energy-efficient, faster solutions to computational problems that could enable scientific breakthroughs.

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

A Beginner's Guide to Black Holes - With Amélie Saintonge

1 rating

An accessible tour of how black holes form, work, and reveal themselves through indirect evidence.

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

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

1 rating

Explores how brain mechanisms, REM sleep, and dopamine circuits shape dreaming and challenge Freud’s theory of meaningful dreams.

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

The Neuroscience of Addiction - With Marc Lewis

1 rating

Neuroscientist Marc Lewis argues that addiction is learned brain change rather than disease, using neuroplasticity and developmental treatment to explain recovery.

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

Nanotechnology - The High-Tech Revolution - With Dave Blank

1 rating

A tour of how nanoscale building blocks enable new materials, medical diagnostics, energy systems, and smarter technologies.

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

Cracking Ancient Codes - Egyptian Hieroglyphs with Andrew Robinson

1 rating

Explore how the Rosetta Stone and knowledge of Coptic helped scholars decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

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

How to Look Inside a Volcano - with Christopher Jackson

1 rating

Explore how 3D seismic imaging reveals volcanoes’ internal structures, plumbing systems, and underlying hot rocks.

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

What Role Does Our Microbiome Play in a Healthy Diet? - With Tim Spector

1 rating

Explore how gut microbiome diversity shapes digestion, metabolism, immunity, and dietary choices, including foods and interventions that may improve microbial health.

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

What's the Weather Like in Space and Why Should We Care? - With Lucie Green

1 rating

An accessible exploration of solar eruptions, magnetic fields, and space weather events that can disrupt technology and infrastructure on Earth.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 5 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Quantum Computing in the 21st Century – With David Jamieson

1 rating

Explore how qubits and quantum states could enable large-scale computers, and the precision engineering challenges involved in building them.

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

The Complex Science of Fertility - Evolution of IVF and Reproductive Technology

1 rating

Explore the evolution of fertility technologies, from 1850s artificial insemination to modern IVF, examining their practical applications, ethical implications, and global impact on human kinship and family structures.

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

The Neuroscience of the Teenage Brain - With Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

1 rating

A neuroscientist explains how adolescent brain development shapes risk-taking, social influence, exclusion, decision-making, and adulthood.

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