Sometimes, the biggest discoveries begin with the simplest tools.
Physicist @suziesheehy.bsky.social replicates JJ Thomson's demonstration showing that atoms were made of smaller components. What he discovered would become known as the electron.
Watch the full talk: youtube.com/watch?v=aXg3edeUrtc
The human brain is extraordinary. 🧠 But also...kind of a mess.
Join neuroscientist Dean Burnett for a fascinating look at the quirks, flaws and surprising strengths of our most complex organ.
Deep in the natural world, a parasitic fungus can hijack an ant’s body. 🐜 Could humans be next?
Join us for an immersive event blending neuroscience, mycology and live performance, as scientists and artists come together to uncover one of nature’s strangest systems.
Matter is mostly empty space—yet, it feels solid.
Electromagnetism holds it together… and helps explain why dark matter slips straight through.
@mattbothwell.com leads us through the mysterious world of dark matter. Watch the full talk: youtube.com/watch?v=bLa3k0NoHvY
Smart devices, from wearables to voice assistants, promise convenience...but at what cost?
Internet technologies expert Anna Maria Mandalari will reveal how everyday devices can be misused, and what we can do about it.
I’m about to give a talk at the Royal Institute @rigb.org - Metamorphosis - eggs to excellence
Talking maggots at the Royal Institution!!
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social @amentsoc.bsky.social
We put Newton's third law to the test by simulating the science behind how rockets lift off 🚀
Do you need to be a genius become a top chess player, or is practice enough? ♟️
Fernand Gobet, an International Chess Master, joins us to challenge the "10,000-hour rule" and explore what it truly takes to become a Grandmaster.
The exterior of the Ri building at night
Happy Easter to all those celebrating! 🐰
Our free Museum will be closed today and on Easter Monday, but you can visit us from 9.00am to 5.00pm Tuesday through Friday.
We have a range of Holiday Workshops during school holidays, see what's on: rigb.org/season/holiday-workshops
AI can accelerate discovery, but can we trust what it finds? 🤖
Physicist Claire Malone will examine the science and the uncertainty behind AI-driven research.
Steel is a material shaped not just by elements, but by process 🔨
Engineer @romatheengineer.bsky.social explains how when steel is struck and cooled, its internal crystals rearrange, becoming harder and stronger.
Watch the full talk: youtube.com/watch?v=K055I7iYqUM
An image showing a mosaic of the 10 winners of our awards.
Pride in STEM is 10 this month, and we are so proud to celebrate these 10 change-makers who were proposed and voted in by the community.
Read about their work, their impact, and their commitment to improving the lives of LGBTQIA+ people in STEM and beyond, here:
prideinstem.org/2026/04/01/t...
This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.
There’s no single way to experience the world.
This #WorldAutismDay, our staff member Marie-Claire shares how understanding her autism helped her begin to “find her frequency”, making sense of sensory differences, identity, and belonging. www.rigb.org/explore-scie...
Melting icebergs don't significantly affect water levels. 🧊 So why are sea levels rising?
Oceanographer John Englander explains this with a simple yet brilliant visualisation.
Watch the full talk: youtu.be/MvqY2NcBWI8
If you would like to see a 100% human-led science talk in our Theatre, take a look at what’s coming up at the Ri: rigb.org/whats-on?type=23
In welcoming his imminent return to the Ri, the great natural philosopher would sure like to draw your attention to today's date 😉
This is, of course, an April Fool's joke.
The Royal Institution has been the home of human ingenuity for over 225 years. And humans will always be its beating heart. 💛
So he will once again stand behind our lecture desk in the form of a hologram, in the same spot where the Christmas Lectures started in 1825 and continue to take place annually to this day. 🔦
We took Faraday's original notebooks from our archive collection, and we uploaded them to a large language model to bring the iconic Victorian experimentalist's mind back to life. 📚
Drum roll, please! 🥁 The 2026 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures will be given by their founder... Michael Faraday himself, powered by AI technology.
Read *the whole thread* to find out more!
Ri Science in Schools shows are an explosive introduction to the power of science, planting the seeds for a lifelong love of STEM.
Find out more: rigb.org/learning/science-shows-your-school
We cannot wait to see him in the semi-finals.
Ted has been sparking curiosity in hundreds of children as a presenter of our Science in Schools shows.
Now he's getting the whole of Britain to love...graphs!
Watch his full audition here: youtube.com/watch?v=5kzyYNOq0X8
Ted presenting the "Energy Live" show, wearing a hard hat with a contraption connected to a light bulb
Gold isn't one of the chemical elements discovered here at the Ri...but our Science in Schools presenter Ted went straight for it during his Britain's Got Talent audition! ⭐
Rocks are not silent. 🪨 From Stonehenge to volcanic landscapes, rocks hold the history of our planet.
Join earth scientist Anjana Khatwa to learn how they connect us to our planet's past—and to each other.
Could anyone fake a Jackson Pollock? Mathematician @marcusdusautoy.bsky.social says otherwise.
Hidden within those sweeping drips lies a fractal signature born from the physics of motion.
Watch the full talk: youtu.be/thc2bWGNY2k
Archive desk, zoomed out, showing archival papers, focusing on a flap at the back of a late 19th century booklet. It is next to an archive box and there are two “weight” snakes securing them to the table. Copyright Royal Institution Archives DE11/3/1
A zoomed in image of the flap “Chronology of Physical & Chemical Philosophers” Copyright Royal Institution Archives DE11/3/1
Lovely little @rigb.org archive find - in the back of James Dewar’s pamphlet for his 1883 Juvenile Lectures on Alchemy & its relation to Modern Science is this wonderful pull-out timeline of physical and chemical philosophers… beginning with “Hermes??” and (of course) finishing with Faraday 🧪
Why is the sky blue, and how do things stay aloft? ☁️ Join engineer Lucy Rogers to discover the forces shaping everything overhead through hands-on demonstrations and stories. www.rigb.org/whats-on/liv...
Those colourful swirls on a soap bubble are caused light interfering with itself inside a tiny “soap sandwich.” 🌈
Watch the full talk with the Ri Demo Team: youtube.com/watch?v=wQTvf2vsxEU
From self-cleaning glass to coatings that can sense gases, nanoparticles are quietly shaping technologies you might already be using...just on a scale you can’t see 👀
Join chemist Ivan Parkin for a Discourse exploring these extraordinary nanoscaled materials. www.rigb.org/whats-on/dis...
