Author and science communicator Tracy King will create a lasting record of one of the UK’s most influential science broadcasts, when she takes up post as the inaugural Writer in Residence to the ...

When ChatGPT-3 crash-landed onto our computers in November 2022, you’d have been forgiven for thinking this massive leap in artificial intelligence had sprung out of nowhere. From one day to the next, ...

Magic squares have fascinated mathematicians for centuries. Today, they continue to do so as part of our Ri Masterclasses for young students around the UK, as they explore the wonders of mathematics, ...

You know the story. Two strangers locked eyes across a crowded room, and there it is: butterflies in the stomach, sparks in the air—they know they’ve found “the one”. Love at first sight is a popular ...

On 18 May 1859, the Irish physicist John Tyndall wrote in his journal ‘the subject is completely in my hands’. This is no cryptic note. Just nine days earlier he had set up his complex and clever new ...

As we celebrate the bicentenary of Faraday's invention of the electric motor in 1821, our Head of Heritage and Collections, Charlotte New, takes us on a voyage through time to rediscover this ...

Volunteer historian Laurence Scales explores how war surgeons operated 25 years before antibiotics were widely available, starting from a 1915 Discourse here at the Ri. Antibiotics would not be ...

The mining and engineering industries in the 19th century relied heavily on gunpowder as an explosive to aid their work. However, storing and transporting gunpowder on wooden sailing ships was ...

Alison Woollard is an Associate Professor in the Biochemistry Department at Oxford University where she leads a research team working on the developmental genetics of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis ...

Since its founding in 1799, the Royal Institution has been committed to connecting scientists and the public. Even before the term "scientist" was coined, we played a vital role in bringing scientific ...

A new partnership with the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network will see the filming of the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES livestreamed to local community libraries throughout the UK for the first time ...

Sci-fi is not all just fun and games. Megan Stephens reflects on the influence the genre has had on real-life research and technology. We’re all familiar with the trappings of science fiction, many of ...