Royal Institution Lectures

Professor Jon Butterworth, member of the High Energy Physics group on the Atlas experiment, provides an overview of his work at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Will consciousness ever be explained by neuroscientists? What is the latest philosophical and scientific thinking in explaining how the wet stuff in our heads creates the world we experience? An expert panel consisting of Dr Anil Seth, Professor Barry Smith and Professor Chris Frith discuss these questions and more. Consists out of two parts; part one being 'Presentations' and part two being 'Discussion'.

Scientists and journalists need different things from science. In part one, Ananyo Bhattacharya, Chief Online Editor at Nature, Chris Chambers, from Cardiff University's School of Psychology, science writer Ed Yong, and Head of the UK's Science Media Centre, Fiona Fox, present their views on what scientists and journalists need from each other. In part two, Chair Dr Alice Bell opens the floor to questions from the audience and leads an impassioned debate on how scientists and journlists can better understand each other. Consists out of two parts; part one being 'Presentations' and part two being 'Discussion'.

Consists out of three parts. In part one philosopher of physics David Wallace guides us the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the mind-bending claims it makes about our reality. In part two Sir Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter discuss their new series of novels entitled The Long Earth. In part three the audience gets to ask the panel questions.

Distinguished Scientist, Ri Vice President and explosives expert Chris Bishop presents another action-packed demonstration lecture. Following on from his explorations of Chemistry and the world of Fireworks, Professor Bishop turns his attention to the use, origins and properties of explosives.

Take a deep breath. Inside your lungs is a mixture of highly reactive and incredibly stable gases. Oxygen is the most reactive constituent. When we eat it's these O2 molecules that seize electrons from our food to give our bodies the energy to live. Add a third oxygen atom and we make ozone, a gas so reactive that it's toxic if we breathe it in, but high up in the stratosphere this gas protects us from the sun's radiation. Add a carbon atom and we produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas responsible for warming the planet. Nitrogen, the most common element in air, is an unreactive gas, but a key atom in every cell in every living thing on Earth. How can we imitate nature to bring this suffocating gas alive? Even less reactive are the Noble or inert gases. They're so stable they are the only elements that exist naturally as individual atoms – but what is it about them that make them so inert? And how can we excite these gases enough to join the chemical party? We've come a long way from the days when alchemists thought the air was a single element, as we unravel the puzzle of how and why these compounds of oxygen hold the key to the viability of life on the planet.

Water is essential to life since every reaction in our bodies takes place in it. But why is water so special? And can we tap into the energy released when a lit splint is added to a mix of hydrogen and water, to create an environmentally friendly solution to our energy problems? Plants have the ability to reverse this reaction by using the energy from sunlight to release oxygen from water. We are starting to learn how to do the same. We also look at the salts contained in water. Once again we will see the startling difference between a compound and its constituent elements. Take sodium chloride – aka table salt. Sodium is a soft silvery metal that explodes with water; chlorine a deadly poisonous, choking green gas. Both elements are lethal to us, but after they have met, a dramatic change takes place. The sodium and chloride ions that form are essential components in our bodies. They help generate the electrical impulses that make our brains and nerves work.

The alchemists thought that metals literally grew in the rocks, deep in the bowels of the Earth. They dreamed of replicating these natural processes turning 'base metals' into gold. Today, the extraction of minerals and metals from rocks has made fortunes, but not quite in the way the alchemists imagined. We now know many rocks are the result of oxygen combining with different elements – each with individual properties. Breaking the strong bonds between oxygen and these elements has always been a challenge. Humankind learned how to release copper in the Bronze Age, and iron in the Iron Age, through smelting. Now we can extract even more exotic materials. By understanding the properties of materials, such as the silicon present in computers, or the rare earth magnets generating our electricity in wind turbines, we are entering a new era of chemistry in which we can engineer electrons in new configurations for future technologies. We can now put together the unique cluster of protons, neutrons and electrons that form each of the 80 elements in exciting new ways. If the ancient alchemists were alive today they'd be dazzled by the wonders created by the modern alchemist.