Today, GPS is guiding - and following - pretty much anything that moves, all around the world. It's so accurate it can track you down to the head of a pin. But where is GPS leading us? Is it helping us find the way, or lose it?
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Fifteen international agencies spend $62 billion every year on space travel. What's fueling our costly - and dangerous - drive to explore the universe?
2020 • Astronomy
In the 21st century, China has become a global economic powerhouse. Why was the rest of the world so slow to notice its rise to the top?
2020 • Economics
Plastics have transformed how we live, but progress comes at a high price: 7.8 billion tons of waste. Are plastics a miracle or a catastrophe?
2000 • Environment
Oil has brought great wealth to the Middle East and ignited major wars. Is it a blessing or a curse for the region, as well as the rest of the world?
2020 • Economics
We share the planet with an estimated 9 million robots, from self-driving cars to surgical arms. Could they one day completely replace humans?
2020 • Technology
Over 10% of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power. But with radioactive waste and the threat of nuclear meltdown, are we playing with fire?
2020 • Economics
Today, GPS is guiding - and following - pretty much anything that moves, all around the world. It's so accurate it can track you down to the head of a pin. But where is GPS leading us? Is it helping us find the way, or lose it?
2022 • Technology
MP3s transformed how we listen to music - and spawned digital piracy. Streaming helped the industry recover, but how can artists get their fair share?
2022 • Technology
Credit cards changed the global economy and attitudes about personal spending, but record levels of consumer debt beg the question: Just who's in charge?
2022 • Technology
Growing evidence suggests that psychedelic drugs could treat brain injuries and psychological problems. But can we get past their controversial history?
2022 • Brain
Bottled water is a big business, selling itself as a tastier and healthier alternative to the tap variety. Is there truth behind the claims?
2022 • Economics
Thanks to dating apps, finding love is easier than ever. But are we now so focused on playing the game that we're missing out on real connection?
2022 • Technology
The home fitness revolution has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry. Are home workouts a healthy habit - or just hype?
2022 • Health
Sweet deal or bitter pill? High fructose corn syrup rose up to dominate supermarket shelves, but what is it doing to our health?
2022 • Health
Acclaimed author, Malcolm Gladwell, leads this feature documentary about the emerging technology of self-driving vehicles and the big questions they raise: what is control and who do we become as we relinquish it to machines?
2020 • Technology
Explores the digital afterlife business. What if a person's death did not mean the end of their life? What if their loved ones could still talk to them long after their body has been cremated or is lying lifeless in the ground? What sounds like the scenario of a science fiction movie is already offered by companies today. By using AI, these startups create avatars of deceased people to allow their loved ones to interact with them. Eternal You tells the story of a human experiment: what does it do to people to resurrect their deceased loved ones in order to talk to them? Who takes responsibility for the psychological and ethical consequences? And do we even want all this?
2024 • Technology
Mike Wooldridge examines real-life neurons in action and explains how artificial neural networks are inspired by neural structures in the brain. To demonstrate how AI learns, we watch drones as they are trained to recognise and fly through structures in the lecture theatre autonomously. AI exploded into the public consciousness in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT and boasts around 100 million monthly users. Mike unravels the mystery of how large language models like ChatGPT work, and he finds out if one day this technology - along with a whole suite of different AI tools - will allow us to understand the animals we share this planet with. The Christmas Lectures are the most prestigious event in the Royal Institution calendar, dating from 1825, when Michael Faraday founded the series. They are the world's longest running science television series and always promise to inspire and amaze each year through explosive demonstrations and interactive experiments with the live theatre audience.
S1E1 • BBC Royal Institution Christmas Lectures: The Truth about AI • 2023 • Technology
We share the planet with an estimated 9 million robots, from self-driving cars to surgical arms. Could they one day completely replace humans?
S1E6 • History 101 • 2020 • Technology
Today, virtual reality headsets are reaching the masses and can already let users dive into spectacular new worlds. From our couches, we can now float through space, fly over New York, or zip along roller coasters. But, what will it be like in the future?
S1E9 • Dream the Future • 2017 • Technology
Hannah uncovers the wild origins of the modern-day rollercoaster and gets the inside story on the UK’s newest, tallest and fastest coaster – Thorpe Park's Hyperia.
S3E3 • The Secret Genius of Modern Life • 2025 • Technology