The BBC
The Stephen Hawking Reith Lectures
About our partners
Project Scrapbook
Each year, the BBC invites a leading figure to give a series of lectures on radio. In 2015, Professor Stephen Hawking delivered two lectures on the nature of black holes. In the first of these lectures, he shows us how weird black holes are – and how they are beyond ‘science fiction’ weird. We meet some of the heroes of black hole research, such as Stephen Wheeler and discover why the French didn’t like the term ‘black hole’. Packed with handy tips like why it’s better to fall into a super-massive black hole than a smaller one, this is a romp through space-time which shows us how black holes challenge the predictability of the universe and the certainty of history.
The film
Does falling into a black hole mean that you will be forever imprisoned within, or is there some way out? In his second Reith Lecture Professor Stephen Hawking takes us deep into the heart of black hole research. He shows us the paradoxical nature of black holes and why not being able to see what’s in them is so important. He reveals why, if information is truly lost in a black hole, the ramifications are disastrous for science itself and for the way we view the world. We then discover how truly weird things can get as he brings us back from the brink of chaos via Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Richard Feynman’s theory of multiple possible histories. So strap your brain in for a true intellectual fun ride.
Mansoor Vakili’s work looks at the earth as a self-organising, living, system. He shows how understanding this can help us live more fulfilling and sustainable lives. Working with Vakili, our creative team explained his work and its implications for the way we live.
Aimed at healthcare managers and clinicians involved in local-level incident investigation, Loughborough University wanted to share an alternative method of healthcare investigation, Systems Thinking. The explainer video introduced the concept of systems thinking, stimulated their overall thinking and provided guidance on this alternative investigation method.
As we face the twin challenges of feeding eight billion people and tackling climate change, we need a new approach, and Nium have the solution! Nium have developed a way to create fossil fuel-free ammonia! We created an explainer video to help Nium to share this incredible breakthrough.
As the planet feels the impact of human activity, we must change how we live, and a big part of this is changing how we educate our children. How we do this is at the heart of research by Dr Peter Sutoris, which we brought to the screen in this whiteboard animation.
UCL Changing Minds want to help organisations harness the full power of behavioural science, transforming the way they work. We worked with UCL Changing Minds to help share what they do with the world.
We were delighted to partner with the Lasker Foundation to create a series of four whiteboard animations.
We collaborated with the British Council to create a whiteboard animation showcasing BIRAX projects and achievements.
We worked with the ClimateWorks Foundation to explain how GHG accounting can be improved, creating this whiteboard animation played at COP27.
CIRAD are passionate about making agricultural research increasingly collaborative, with long-term impacts. Together, we created this whiteboard animation to explain the role of the ImpresS approach in making CIRAD’s mission a reality.
Matthew Taylor has used his final lecture as CEO of the RSA to look at the social forces that shape our society and the relationship between different social sciences.
Most funding agencies consider research impacts an important factor. Communicating impact is a skill in its own right and University College Dublin have created the Impact Toolkit to provide valuable guidance on explaining impact.
A career in science offers an exciting and rewarding chance to contribute and collaborate globally on the problems we all face. These careers extend far beyond the classic examples which come to mind.
We worked with the the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, creating a whiteboard animation to raise awareness about TXA and the success of the CRASH trials.
Studying science gives us amazing transferable skills and knowledge that we can take to every career. we worked with The Royal Society to create this animation highlighting the importance and benefits of studying science.
Journalist and author of The Uninhabitable Earth unpacks the reality and consequences of climate change in the latest RSA Minimate.
When the 2018 Breaking the Barriers report found evidence of discrimination and bullying, the Royal Society of Chemistry responded strongly by developing bullying and harassment advice.
What if we’re all to a lesser or greater extent subject to modern slavery? A problem that affects many people across the world.
Harvard University Professor of Political Philosophy Michael Sandel examines the reality and consequences of our meritocracies in this RSA Minimate.
We had the honour of creating a mural for the Rawthmells Coffeehouse, the RSA’s 21st century enlightenment coffeehouse in London. The mural documents the rich history of the RSA.
Working with Urban Mining Company we created an explainer film that highlights the the amount of electronic waste we create, and the way the Urban Mining Company are recycling this into the technology that drives us forward.
The North American Forest Partnership (NAFP) , now known as #forestproud, have launched a campaign to protect, use and celebrate North America’s forests responsibly with corporates, conservation groups and the public.
Their scope includes encouraging renewable alternatives while protecting natural habitats and places to hike in.
How does life get ‘under your skin’? We explained the importance of the International Centre for Lifecourse Studies’ research in this whiteboard animation.
The North American Forest Partnership needed to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, from the general public to commercial partners and Government. The goal was to build understanding and support amongst the general public about the need for the protection and management of North American forests.
Find out how Heathrow, one of the busiest airports on the planet, co-ordinates 650 flight arrivals a day in our short explainer video.
The North American Forest Partnership, now known as #forestproud, needed to engage with a wide range of stakeholders from the general public to commercial partners and even Government.
What is Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and how can it benefit marine environments and those who use them?
What will be the future of Humanity? In this whiteboard animation for Radio 4, historian and author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari makes a prediction.
Migration to and from Britain is currently a hot political topic, but is it really anything new?
International partnerships are essential to the UK’s success in research, but none is more fruitful than the UK/US partnership.
What are the Liberal Arts and why should you study them at the University of Essex?