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We're an independent charity connecting people of all ages and backgrounds with science. 📺 Home of the #XmasLectures 💥 Weekly science talks online/in person
London & Beyond
Joined July 2009
Uncover 200 years of science at the Ri, as we celebrate a host of landmark anniversaries – including the 200th year of the world-famous Christmas Lectures. #Discover200 with us in 2025. Explore the past, present and future of science. Find out more:
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Today's date (22/02/2022) is both a palindrome AND an ambigram! It reads the same left to right, right to left, and when turned upside down.
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The moment we stopped watching Bridgerton . Let us explain . Things were going great and we were really getting into Season 3. That is until we watched this scene unfold before our eyes .
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You find the number sequence and associated golden ratio/spiral peppered throughout nature. But the sequence was perhaps first noticed around 200 BC in relation to patterns in poetry, by Pingala. It was developed in Indian mathematics and introduced to Europe in 1202 by Fibonacci
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1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, who do we appreciate?. Fibonacci, because it's #FibonacciDay (11/23). 0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55.89.144.233.377.610.987.1597.2584.4181.6765.10946.17711.28657.46368.75025.121393.196418.317811.
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Drumroll, please 🥁 The 2021 #XmasLectures will be led by Professor Jonathan Van-Tam! The 3-lecture series is titled: ‘Going viral: How Covid changed science forever’.
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When we had a chance to send something up to @astro_timpeake on the ISS, this is what we sent. Happy #TowelDay!
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DRUMROLL PLEASE 🎉 Our 2019 Christmas Lecturer is the one and only @FryRsquared!. In the ‘Secrets and lies’ #XmasLectures, Hannah will unveil the hidden numbers, rules and patterns that govern our daily lives. Read all about it at @guardianscience -
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This is Kathleen Lonsdale's actual handwriting, NOT a digital font. We're going to go away now and feel bad about ourselves.
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DRUMROLL PLEASE. Our 2020 Christmas Lecturers are Chris Jackson, Helen Czerski & Tara Shine!. In 'Planet Earth: A user's guide' @seis_matters, @helenczerski & @shine_tara are teaming up to tackle climate change through earth, ocean and air #XmasLectures 🌏
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If this thread has taught us anything, it's that you shouldn't trust Bridgerton to explain heritage science. That's our job 😊. We guess we should be grateful for the mention and our 1 second of almost fame.
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That feeling when you’ve nailed 3 #XmasLectures 🥳 HUGE congrats and thanks to @FryRsquared for unveiling the mathematical patterns in life, showing everyone how cool algorithms are & inspiring a new batch of mathematicians!
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Drumroll, please. 🥁. We are excited to announce that the 2024 #XmasLectures, supported by @CGI_Global , will be presented by Dr Chris van Tulleken (@DoctorChrisVT) and will be all about food and the human body’s relationship to it!
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We love this disappearing sculpture that is inspired by quantum physics and wave-particle duality. See more of Julian Voss-Andreae's incredible work:
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'Planet Earth: A user's guide' starts TODAY! 🥳 @seis_matters kicks us off with 'Engine Earth', showing how our planet’s oldest rocks and fossils provide evidence of radical climate changes, and how humans are now tipping the balance. 📺 8pm, @BBC Four:
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@CorneelAbrasion @seis_matters @helenczerski @shine_tara Everyone but white males was passed over for 170 consecutive years so.
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A towel is about the most massively useful thing interstellar hitchhiker @astro_timpeake can have 🚀 Happy #TowelDay!
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So where Bridgerton failed. We continue. Humphry Davy's miners' safety lamp: A story that Bridgerton deemed too complex to tell.
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Did you know? The Fibonacci sequence is a handy tool to approximatively convert miles to km. 👉 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. 5 miles ≈ 8km.8 miles ≈ 13 km.13 miles ≈ 21 km. and so on!.
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Congratulations @FryRsquared - thoroughly deserved 👏.
The Royal Society David Attenborough Award and Lecture is awarded to Professor Hannah Fry for her prolific science communication activity as the foremost populariser of maths in the country who continues to inspire young people to pursue maths and physics in fun and exciting
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On this day in 1856 Charles Darwin started writing On the Origin of Species. He sketched his famous first diagram of an evolutionary tree in 1837, with the note 'I think'
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It’s #LeftHandersDay! Only 10% of people are left handed🤚🤙 - It’s thought that our preference for our handiness is determined as a growing foetus, even before the connection between the area of our brain which controls movement, and our spinal cord, is fully formed (1/3)👇
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The difference between FM and AM radio? 📻 Basically, FM radio is tuned to changes in the frequency of radio waves, whilst AM is tuned to the amplitude of radio waves. So AM radio is more vulnerable to interference, but its longer wavelengths mean better range #NationalRadioDay
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📣 To feedback about the 2020 Christmas Lectures, please email us xmaslecs@ri.ac.uk and please don’t abuse our speakers. A thread ⤵️.
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Science is at its best when we ALL have a voice!. Happy International Day of Women & Girls in Science 🎉. All areas of science are enhanced and enriched by both the work and presence of women and girls in the discipline. #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM #WomenInScienceDay
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BIG NEWS 📣 In the 2018 #xmaslectures, @theAliceRoberts will be exploring the fundamental question of life: ‘Who am I?’
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Did you see today's @GoogleDoodles celebrating Marie Tharp?. The geologist completely revolutionised the way we see the formation of the world as we know it by studying the ocean floor - without ever being allowed on a boat. #Thread
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HUGE thanks and congrats to our 3 incredible Christmas Lecturers! We've learnt so much about how the earth, ocean and atmosphere work, and how we can protect the planet and people from the impacts of climate change 🌎🌍🌏. We hope you have too! #XmasLectures
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Can you post some festive science content? . Fine, here's a chemist-tree
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Liquid oxygen has paramagnetic properties 🧲. When you pour it between two poles of a strong magnet (at room temperature) the liquid is held there until it boils back into a gas. Watch the full demo:
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This is a monumental moment in science! The first image of a black hole has just been revealed by the Event Horizon Telescope, an international array of 8 radio telescopes. It's measured to be 40 billion km wide 😲 #EHTBlackHole @ehtelescope
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Happy 95th birthday to national treasure Sir David Attenborough! 🎂. His 1975 Christmas Lectures broke the cardinal rule of broadcast television: "never work with animals or children" - and they were awesome. Watch here:
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And then our dreams were crushed. As Lady Featherington replied. 'No.'. We've never heard a Slack channel audibly gasp and cry. But, we guess there's always a first time for everything.
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Question: What is chemistry?.Andrew Szydlo: Hold my beaker. Watch the full family-friendly lecture here:
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Within our heritage collection, we have a number of Davy's early protypes for his lamp.
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The #XmasLectures start TONIGHT! 🎉. Join us on BBC Four at 8pm as Jonathan Van-Tam and a team of expert Guest Lecturers share the science of viruses: how they work, how they spread, and what we can do to stop them. Read more:
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We're excited to announce our 2022 Christmas Lecturer: Professor Dame Sue Black! . This year's #XmasLectures will be all about forensic science, as Sue reveals the secrets of real-life investigations, separating forensic fact from fiction. Find out more:
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Happy Boxing Day! This means only one thing - the first of the 'Secrets and lies' #XmasLectures 🤫 Tune in to @BBCFOUR at 8pm to see @FryRsquared & @standupmaths unravel the mathematics of luck
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Tears were shed at the All Staff meeting, as we reflected on what might have been. But we resolved to respond. Pick-up the baton from Netflix. Continue the story. Do the heavy lifting. Educate people about the history of science.
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Today's Google Doodle celebrates the birthday of Georgios Papanikolaou, the Greek medic and researcher who invented the Papanicolaou smear test – aka the Pap smear – to screen women for early signs of cervical cancer 🔬
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In an intense period of work from mid-October to December 1815, Davy made various prototype lamps. The final design was very simple: a basic lamp with a wire gauze chimney enclosing the flame. The holes let light pass through, but the metal of the gauze absorbs the heat.
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Want to find out more?. Watch this helpful explanatory video on our YouTube channel. Or, if you're ever in London, why not visit our museum in person and see the lamp for yourself?.
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The lamp was successfully tested in Hebburn Colliery in January 1816 and quickly went into production. The introduction of the lamp had an immediate effect, decreasing the number of fatalities per million tons of coal produced.
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Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened 🥲 It's a wrap on the 2022 #XmasLectures!. Please join us in saying a massive "well done" to our Christmas Lecturer, Sue Black 👏 How great was she?!
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Liquid oxygen has paramagnetic properties, so when you pour it between two poles of a strong magnet (at room temperature) the liquid is held there until it boils back into a gas 🤩
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Following a number of serious explosions in North East coal mines due to pockets of flammable gas known as 'firedamp', Humphry Davy was asked by the Rector of Bishopwearmouth (near Newcastle) to find a means of lighting coal mines safely.
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That's a wrap on #xmaslectures number 1! Well done @theAliceRoberts & @aoifemcl! Tune back in tomorrow at 8PM for a closer look at our human lineage in 'What makes me human?'
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But it also increased the amount of coal produced as it allowed miners to mine deeper seams of coal. In this way it made a fundamental contribution to the continuing industrialisation of Britain and to many other mining countries, during the nineteenth century.
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Why is the sky blue? 🔵 Jemma recreates 19th-century demonstration of Tyndall scattering.
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🧲This jaw-dropping visualisation of a magnetic field has got us hypnotised 😵
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Is today the day when we post our best sodium pun? . Na.
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And then the immortal words were said: . 'Lady Featherington, may I present what Sir Humphrey Davy calls a lamp?'. There was popcorn everywhere. The company Slack channel started popping-off. The History of Science had come to Bridgerton.
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Sodium flames can appear black in the light of a sodium lamp.🔥⚫. Isn't physics awesome?!
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Only seven sleeps until the 2021 #XmasLectures! 🎄 Join Jonathan Van-Tam and six Guest Lecturers to learn all about how viruses work, how they spread, and the scientific breakthroughs that allow us to fight them. 📺 BBC Four (8pm) on 28, 29, and 30 December.
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It's #NationalAvocadoDay! Did you know that avocados contain more potassium than bananas? Potassium is vital for a number of vital bodily functions - helping our muscles to contract and regulating our heart rhythm and blood pressure🥑💪❤️
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The lamp is safe to use because the flame can't heat enough flammable gas to cause an explosion, although the flame itself will change colour.
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Alan Turing will be the face of the @bankofengland's new £50 polymer note! 💷 “Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand"
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A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have, so @Kevin_Fong sent one to @astro_timpeake back in the 2015 #xmaslectures. Happy #TowelDay everyone! Wear yours to pay tribute to Douglas Adams, author of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
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If you're raising a glass on #BeerDay (you know—for science), chemistry is here to help you make an informed decision at the bar. 🍻. Via the excellent @compoundchem
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11 sleeps until the #XmasLectures begin! They're on @BBCFOUR at 8pm on the 28, 29 & 30 December 🌍. 28 Dec: 'Engine Earth' by @seis_matters .29 Dec: 'Water World' by @helenczerski .30 Dec: 'Up in the Air' by @shine_tara .
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Mars will be at its biggest and brightest starting tonight, as the Earth will sit between Mars and the sun at 5:22AM (this is 'opposition', the planetary equivalent of a full moon). Clear skies permitting, folks in the UK should be able to see the red planet most of the night.🔭
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Two #XmasLectures down, one to go! Watch us tonight on BBC Four at 8pm, as Jonathan Van-Tam is joined by Guest Lecturers Teresa Lambe and Sharon Peacock to tell us about the science of vaccines and how we can use technology to beat viruses in Lecture Three: 'Fighting Back'
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Carl Sagan, who would have been 87 years old today, sent a message out to the Universe during his 1977 #XmasLectures. We worked out how far that message would have travelled at the speed of light since then. 🌌. Watch his full lectures, "The Planets":
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One week to go until the 'Who am I?' #xmaslectures with @theAliceRoberts & @aoifemcl!. First up on Boxing Day, Alice and Aoife explore our place in the tree of life. Tune in to @BBCFOUR at 8pm
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Happy Birthday Charles Darwin! Darwin was born on this day in 1809 🦍👣 . You can read 'On the Origin of Species' here: And read all known letters Darwin wrote and received up to the year 1873 thanks to @MyDearDarwin: #DarwinDay
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For what was the briefest of seconds, the marketing team were primed to take advantage of the sudden newfound interest in Davy's Lamp. You can imagine the scenes: billboards, Neon lights, merchandise. Basically, the works.
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Let's welcome our next Guest Lecturer: Julia Gog 🙌 Julia is Professor of Mathematical Biology at @cambridge_uni, and a specialist in modelling the spread and evolution of infectious diseases. Are you ready for some maths fun?! #XmasLectures
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Biggest congratulations to our Christmas Lecturers @theAliceRoberts & @aoifemcl on a stellar series of #xmaslectures! Your smarts and enthusiasm is going to inspire generations 👏🥳
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'How to Bend the Rules' #XmasLectures. @FryRsquared & @standupmaths & friends. 8PM TONIGHT. Be there or be a regular quadrilateral
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Happy #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience!. Follow the hashtag for empowering stories and experiences from women working in science. We love these STEM role models posters from @neverthelesspod for extra inspiration 💫👩🏿🔬👩🏼🔧👩🏾🚀👩🏽🏭👩🏻🌾👩🏽⚕️. @WomenScienceDay.
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Boy: Dad, can you tell me what an eclipse is?. Dad: No sun.
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How will the Universe end? 🌌 Cosmologist @AstroKatie tells us about three theories with names so cool, they could be heavy metal bands.
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We’ve seen that Prof Chris Jackson has once again been the subject of abuse in relation to his work in the 2020 Christmas Lectures. We want to reiterate that we are so proud of the work Chris, Dr Helen Czerski and Dr Tara Shine did as our Christmas Lecturers. (1/2).
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This chart illustrates how the number of Crayola crayon colours doubles every 28 years. 🖍️. According to Crayola's law (yes, it's a thing), by 2050 toddlers will have to choose from a whopping 330 colours. Read more:
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The furthest place from land on Earth is known as Point Nemo, almost 2,700km away from the nearest island. At the right time of day, the nearest humans are those on board the International Space Station, at ≈400 kilometres altitude.
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It's our 222nd birthday! 🎂 We don't feel a day older than 221. What better way to celebrate than replicating one of Faraday’s famous candle demonstrations?. The smoke contains vapourised wax (fuel for the 🔥) and it burns all the way back to the wick, reigniting the candle.
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Very important law of science.
Newton's third law of motion states that for every action there is a an equal and opposite reaction - for instance, the force exerted on lambykins’ ears cause an equal and opposite reaction in lambykins’ tail.
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AI is the most rapidly evolving area of science today. Join @wooldridgemike for the #XmasLectures, supported by CGI, revealing the truth about AI - from its impact on daily life to showing how AI technology really works. 📺8pm on BBC Four on 26, 27, 28 December & BBC iPlayer
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Celebrate 10 years of the Large Hadron Collider @CERN ⚛️ On 24 Sep we're live-streaming with a panel of physicists from its 4 giant experiments – @ALICEexperiment, @ATLASexperiment, @CMSExperiment & @LHCbExperiment . Register for free >
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2 days to go until @FryRsquared's #XmasLectures with @standupmaths 🥳. Tune in to @BBCFOUR at 8pm on Boxing Day for 'Secrets and lies: The hidden power of maths':
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Look at your formulae notes.Look at Kathleen Lonsdale's formulae notes. Give up on science for the day.#NationalHandwritingDay
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During the first of the 2021 #XmasLectures, Jonathan Van-Tam and Guest Lecturers @ProfKatieEwer and @ravgup33_ravi will tell us all about how viruses infect our bodies, damage our cells and force our immune system to fight back. 📺 Watch tonight, on BBC Four at 8pm!
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The Ri are sorry to hear of the passing of one of the great physics minds of our time Peter Higgs. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues and all those he influenced during his life and phenomenal career.
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Look out for a super pink moon tonight 🌕. The biggest full moon of 2020 is set to light up the night sky this evening.
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Did you miss the first night of the #XmasLectures? Fear not, technology is here to help — it's already on BBC iPlayer for catch up! Join us tonight at 8pm on BBC Four for Lecture Two, to delve into the science of how viruses spread.
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Less than a week to the #XmasLectures with Sue Black! 🤩 Follow us on an illuminating journey using forensic science to investigate crimes from the crime scene, through to the lab and into the courtroom. 📺 Tune in on BBC Four and iPlayer at 8pm on 26, 27 and 28 December
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Bet you've never seen sound waves this way before! 🔥. @AnnaPloszajski takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the science of materials, from plastic mattresses to brass trumpets! Watch now:
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Mind-blowing fact of the day: there's more time separating the T. rex and the Stegosaurus (c. 82 million years) than there is between the T. rex and the iPhone (c. 65 million years).
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Whoever does these incredible fractal patterns in the snow is putting snowmen everywhere to shame (via @spleenywaves)
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Marie Tharp was born #otd in 1920! As a geologist and oceanographer, Marie was the first person to scientifically map the Atlantic ocean floor along with Bruce Heezen. As part of her extensive work, she also proposed the concept of continental drift and plate tectonics.
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New heritage interpretation was being prepared. Projections for increased summer footfall numbers mooted. We were ready to capitalise on interest and ensure the Ri became the number 1 visitor destination of summer 2024.
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Our 2021 Christmas Lecturer is Prof Jonathan Van-Tam! 👏 He will be joined by leading scientists who played key roles in our response to the current pandemic, taking a deep dive into viruses, including Covid-19.
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The secret's out! 👀 . The series title for this year's CHRISTMAS LECTURES, supported by @CGI_Global, is: The truth about food 🙌 . Watch this year's lectures, presented by @DoctorChrisVT, between Christmas and New Year on BB4 or catch-up on iPlayer.
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Just three hours until the #XmasLectures start on BBC Four at 8pm!. Tune in to learn all about viruses and pandemics with Jonathan Van-Tam and a team of Guest Lecturers. Tonight, @ProfKatieEwer and @ravgup33_ravi for Lecture One: 'The Invisible Enemy'.
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