Ri Science Podcast

Why is there less medical research on women? How did humanity reach 8 billion despite the dangers of childbirth? In this episode, Cat Bohannon explores these questions and reveals insights from her book, Eve: How Women Drove 200 Million Years of Evolution, to highlight women’s pivotal role in our species’ history. This talk was recorded at the Royal Institution on 8 June 2024.

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Producer: Eloise Ross

Executive producer: Lia Hale

Music: Joseph Sandy  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate National Cheese Day earlier this month, we sat down with biochemist and cheese expert Bronwen Percival to look under the barrel at the science of one of the nation’s favourite foods. From the basics of cheese production to the biochemistry underlying its notorious smell, and even some cheese tastings, this episode guarantees to open your eyes to the captivating world of cheese.  

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Producer: Freddie Rodgers 

Interviewer: Isla Nakano 

Music: Joseph Sandy 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What came first, the chicken, the egg, or...the jellyfish? Zoologist and author Jules Howard joins us this month to explore evolution through a new lens - the egg. Eggs play a fundamental role in the reproduction and development of most species, yet they have been relatively overlooked in the narrative of evolution and the progression of life on Earth.

Jules takes us on a journey back through the history of eggs, their surprisingly fundamental role in everything from the extinction of dinosaurs to the evolution of the human brain.

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Producer: Lia Hale

Interviewer: Lia Hale

Music: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is it that we can vividly remember a particular smell from years ago, but can’t remember where we put our keys a mere few hours prior? This month, we’re joined by renowned neuroscientist and author Dr Charan Ranganath to discuss how and why we remember.

Charan is a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, and Director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at UC Davis, and has recently released his first book ‘Why We Remember’. Charan takes us on a journey through our own minds, and a forward look at the future of memory research. 

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Producer: Lia Hale 

Assistant producer: Freddie Rodgers 

Interviewer: Lisa Derry 

Music: Joseph Sandy 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second episode of this miniseries, we’re exploring how AI is impacting different areas of scientific research, and in this episode we discuss the applications of AI in healthcare. Lisa Derry is joined by Dr James Kinross, a colorectal surgeon and medical researcher at Imperial College London, to discuss everything from the impact of AI on medical publishing to robotic surgery.

• Ri on AI episode 1: https://youtu.be/lxgaILSZEbU?si=T3INFIFJy9Zkx1wZ 

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Lead producer: Lia Hale
Assistant producer: Freddie Rodgers
Interviewer: Lisa Derry
Music: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following on from his Discourse, Yang-Hui He is joined by LIMS science writer Madeleine Hall to discuss the past, present and future of Geometry. From Euclid’s postulates to how flower petals are arranged, explore how our modern understanding of geometry has come to be. LIMS is based here at the Ri, and you can find out more about their research by following the link below.  

 New Ri Science Podcast episodes will be released on the last Wednesday of every month, so make sure to tune in for the next episode at the end of March! 

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Producer: Jeremy Monblat

Assistant producer: Lia Hale, Freddie Rodgers

Editor: Freddie Rodgers

Interviewer: Jeremy Monblat 

Music: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re exploring how AI is impacting different areas of scientific research, and in this episode we discuss AlphaFold, the machine learning programme from DeepMind that can determine a protein structure from its amino acids alone. Lisa Derry is joined by Dame Janet Thornton, an oracle of bioinformatics and former Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute, to discuss how AlphaFold has revolutionised its field, and what it could do in the future.

Thank you to our Christmas Lectures supporters and our title partner, CGI.

Please leave this episode a rating and a review to let us know what you think of the new video format, and to help more people discover the podcast.

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Producer: Lia Hale

Assistant producers: Sarah Dick and James Kavanagh

Interviewer: Lisa Derry

Music: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can we improve the use of renewable energy in the power grid? In the final episode of the series 'Tales from my PhD', Charlotte Collingwood talks to Karan Mukhi about his work in computer science, creating algorithms to improve the efficiency of the national grid.

Follow Charlotte on Twitter: @NeuroCharlotte

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Produced by: Charlotte Collingwood

Music by: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you fight a fungus? In this episode of ‘Tales from my PhD’, Charlotte Collingwood talks to Camilla Molinari about her work in plant pathology, studying the mechanisms and genetics of the rice blast fungus in order to limit its impact on food crops.

• Follow Camilla on Twitter: ⁠@CamilaMolinari3
• Follow Charlotte on Twitter: ⁠@NeuroCharlotte⁠

Ri Science Podcast episodes are released on the last Wednesday of every month, and our new ‘From the Theatre’ episodes are released on the second Wednesday of the month. Subscribe to be notified as soon as the next episode is released! 

• Book tickets to upcoming talks on our website 

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel 

• Follow us: @ri_science on Instagram and TikTok 

Produced by: Charlotte CollingwoodMusic by: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can maths and computational models help us treat anxiety and depression? In this episode of 'Tales from my PhD', Charlotte Collingwood talks to Sophie Shang about her research in the field of computational psychiatry. A hallmark symptom of anxiety and depression is an intolerance of uncertainty. Sophie's work involves designing studies to test people's response to changes in their environment, analysing the data mathematically and then coding computational models in order to reveal patterns in human behaviour and mental health that are otherwise invisible.

• Follow Sophie on Twitter: @Sophie_Shang
• Follow Charlotte on Twitter: @NeuroCharlotte

Please leave this episode a rating and a review to let us know what you think.

• Get tickets for upcoming talks and livestreams: rigb.org/whats-on
• Watch videos on YouTube: youtube.com/TheRoyalInstitution
• Follow us on social media: twitter.com/Ri_Science

Produced by: Charlotte Collingwood

Music by: Joseph Sandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.