Ri Science Podcast

Did you know that zoologists have only found 5 species of mammals that go through the menopause? That's 4 species of toothed whale, plus us humans. The animal kingdom reveals a lot about female evolution and this month, Lucy Cooke explores evolutionary biology through an array of animal examples and research stemming from Darwin's time. Get Lucy Cooke's book 'Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal': www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/111196…80857524133.html This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 8 March 2022. Please leave this episode a rating and a review to let us know what you think, and to help more people discover the podcast. Get tickets for upcoming talks and livestreams: www.rigb.org/whats-on Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Sebastian Pena Lambarri via Unsplash | unsplash.com/photos/poly_hmhwJs

If you're a fan of multiverse movies, this episode is for you. The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that an infinite number of universes exist in parallel to eachother, each having branched off in a moment of divergence before following its own unique timeline. Theoretical physicist Sean M Carroll guides us through the strange and sometimes daunting topic of quantum mechanics – from Einstein and Bohr to Schrödinger's cat and the many-worlds interpretation. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 22 January 2020. Get tickets for upcoming talks and livestreams: www.rigb.org/whats-on Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Israel Piña via Unsplash | unsplash.com/photos/3DzrAXPTp2c

Our exploration of the Earth’s fluctuating environment is an extraordinary story of human perception and scientific endeavour, which began much earlier than you might think. This month we hear from Alice Bell as she explores climate change science’s earliest steps in the 18th and 19th centuries, through the point when concern started to rise in the 1950s, right up to the modern day. You can learn more in Alice’s latest book 'Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis’. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 22 July 2021. Get tickets for upcoming talks and livestreams: www.rigb.org/whats-on Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Andrey Metelev via Unsplash | unsplash.com/photos/qpAOxji4dAo

Do you consider yourself a ‘thrill-seeker’? If so, you may have a variation in the DRD4 dopamine receptor gene which makes you less able to process dopamine, a neurotransmitter that's responsible for how we feel pleasure. This month we hear from thrill-engineer Brendan Walker as he explains how he designs rollercoasters to induce thrill, priming our bodies’ innate responses through sounds, visual cues, virtual reality and much more. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 28 February, 2020. Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/edT9bUbKId4 Get tickets for upcoming talks: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Jonny Gios via Unsplash | unsplash.com/photos/ljN0zTXf7tQ

Does love at first sight exist? How does your attachment style influence how you love? This month we hear from lawyer-turned-poet and author, Laura Mucha, and artificial intelligence expert, Kate Devlin, about love and relationships. They share real love stories, explore what companies learn about you through online dating and discover what the future holds for sexual companion robots. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 14 February 2019. Website: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Alexandru Acea via Unsplash | unsplash.com/photos/RQgKM1h2agA

Physicist Harry Cliff explains how the Universe is made, drawing on experimental data from the Large Hadron Collider and labs around the world. We hear how the basic building blocks of matter and four fundamental forces of nature make up The Standard Model of particle physics. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on the 10 August 2021. Watch the video version on YouTube: youtu.be/bzV4O85n2y8 Learn more in Harry Cliff’s book, ‘How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch’: geni.us/harrycliff Website: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Lucas Taylor/CERN via Wikimedia Commons | cdsweb.cern.ch/record/628469

This episode is about forensic anthropology. Please be aware that due to the nature of the topic, this talk includes discussions of violence, child sexual abuse, death by suicide and mass-fatality events, which some listeners may find disturbing. This month, we hear from Sue Black, a forensic anthropologist who has led teams across the world to identify the victims and perpetrators of various conflicts and cases. Sue shares examples of her breakthrough work on real-life events, and examines how our life’s history is written into our anatomy. The talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 22 February, 2019. Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9Jrd5kJ-vTU Website: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Immo Wegmann via Unsplash | https://unsplash.com/photos/5PqBCWUtYbo

The Hubble Telescope has revolutionised our understanding of the Universe. It has, among many other achievements, revealed thousands of galaxies in what seemed to be empty patches of sky and measured precisely how fast the universe is expanding. In this talk, the first American woman to walk in space, Kathryn D Sullivan, recounts how the team of astronauts, engineers and flight controllers helped launch, rescue and maintain Hubble, the most productive observatory ever built. Her book, 'Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention' is available now. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on the 6th of March, 2020. Website: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: NASA

How does advertising influence us? This month, we hear from advertiser and behaviour expert Rory Sutherland, as he uses case studies from the world’s biggest brands to show how advertising makes us act against reason. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 10 May 2019. Website: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution Thumbnail image credit: Franck Michel via Flickr https://flic.kr/p/2ewNd8t

What makes up a cannabis medicinal product? How do the active ingredients work in our bodies? What conditions can it treat, and how can doctors prescribe it? We’re joined by neurologist and medical cannabis expert Mike Barnes, and ‘End our Pain’ campaigners, Peter Carroll and Hannah Deacon. Hannah fought to obtain cannabis oil to treat her son Alfie’s epileptic seizures, and the campaign succeeded in changing UK law – as of November 2018, NHS doctors can legally prescribe cannabis. So why is it still hard for doctors to do so? Mike, Peter and Hannah discuss these issues with journalist, Susie Mesure. This talk was recorded from our theatre at the Royal Institution on 21 January 2019 Website: www.rigb.org Twitter: twitter.com/Ri_Science YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/TheRoyalInstitution Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution