To mark Brain Awareness Week, Dr Mark Lythgoe will take audiences on a journey in search of the greatest brain of the 20th century, a brain which was removed during the autopsy of Einstein in 1955. Through this journey, Dr Lythgoe will then dis

3D imaging: nanotechnology and the quest for better medical sensors - Audio

Mar 21st, 2012 34m 23s

The smaller the scales we want to look at, the bigger the tools we need to use, and with complex equipment of this magnitude, it is becoming more and more common for research groups to share central user facilities. Focusing on UCL's use of cen

Having it all - dispelling the myths about work and motherhood - Audio

Mar 13th, 2012 36m 46s

We hear a lot about the stresses of juggling motherhood with paid work, and the subsequent harm this might cause children. However, this lecture to mark International Women’s Day discusses evidence from UK cohort studies following generations o

Patents stop people doing things. So why are they a good thing? - Audio

Mar 13th, 2012 42m 30s

The public debate about patents is old and never stops. Here is what Jeremy Bentham said:“So long as men are governed by unexamined prejudices and led away by sounds, it is natural for them to regard Patents as unfavourable to the encrease of

The Great American Novel: How and Why - Audio

Mar 6th, 2012 39m 49s

Parodied almost as soon as it was announced, and generally regarded as a topic beneath the remit of serious literary criticism, the Great American Novel enterprise has proved more durable and more various than almost any other in American liter

From Euclid to modern geometry: Do the angles of a triangle really add up to 180? - Audio

Mar 6th, 2012 40m 46s

More than two thousand years ago, Euclid of Alexandria wrote the most successful textbook of all time. Starting with a few simple assumptions (often called axioms), he proved one result after another — for example that the angles of a triangle

Genetic testing for risk of Heart Disease: fact or fiction? - Audio

Feb 28th, 2012 36m 23s

An individual’s risk of Coronary Heart Disease is currently based on classical risk factors such as age, gender, blood pressure, smoking habits and obesity. However, most heart attacks occur in individuals with only average classical risk facto

The Metaphysics of Concrete - Audio

Feb 28th, 2012 40m 52s

Almost three tons of concrete are produced every year for each man, woman and child on the planet. It is now second only to water in terms of human consumption. Yet how has the astonishing take-up of this new medium within little over a century

John Bull versus Stinkomalee: Tory opposition in the early days of the University of London (now UCL) - Audio

Feb 14th, 2012 37m 19s

In 1825 a group of liberal politicians, lawyers, dissenting ministers, Roman Catholics, and Jews came together to found a university in London aimed at those excluded from the two old-established English universities, where teachers and student

The Mystery of Master Humphrey: one of Dickens's most enigmatic characters - Audio

Feb 14th, 2012 40m 12s

This lecture investigates one of Dickens's most peculiar and enigmatic characters, Master Humphrey, the narrator of The Old Curiosity Shop (that is, until he is mysteriously dismissed from this role). It details some of Humphrey's oddities, and

Cutting to cure cancer and “the limits set by nature” - Audio

Feb 9th, 2012 33m 17s

Surgeons look back and see the expectations of their predecessors exceeded, and obstacles to progress once thought to be insurmountable, bypassed as a matter of routine. But in cancer surgery there have been some notable reversals. Selection of

The lure of the Kremlin: the court of Ivan the Terrible and global networks in the sixteenth century - Audio

Feb 9th, 2012 40m 48s

In the sixteenth century, the rise of Muscovy was accompanied by military aggression and the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. As a result of military conflicts and cultural differences, Westerners began to see Russia as a barba

The Triumph of Human Rights: Dream or Nightmare? - Audio

Feb 2nd, 2012 39m 52s

Since 1945, the language of human rights has acquired great potency and resonance. Human rights law plays an ever-greater role in national legal systems, and states are now expected to respect an ever-growing range of basic rights. However, a g

Is complex life a freak accident? - Audio

Feb 2nd, 2012 39m 17s

Natural selection is a kind of search engine. Given enough time, and suitably vast populations, it should find the best solutions repeatedly. So why are bacteria still bacteria? And why did all complex life on our planet share an ancestor that

What has Facebook done to us? - Audio

Feb 2nd, 2012 39m 9s

Detailed research on the impact of Facebook on a population reveals very different consequences from those generally presented in newspapers. It also suggests the future of such social networking sites may be very different from their past.

Exploring the Arctic from Space - Audio

Feb 2nd, 2012 37m 58s

The Arctic’s supposed promise of abundant natural resources, shipping routes and scientific discoveries, has a long held fascination for those prepared to brave its harsh environment. With climate models predicting that the Polar Regions are th

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