Royal Institution Public Talk - Evolution, AI and interstellar travel

Royal Institution Public Talk - Evolution, AI and interstellar travel

Monday 20th November 2023 from 19:00pm to 20:30pm

The Royal Institution
21 Albermarle Street, London, London, W1S 4BS

Every second of our lives – whether we’re looking both ways before crossing the street, celebrating the birth of a baby, or moving to a new city – we must cope with an unknowable future by telling stories about what will happen next.

Where is the future, the place where we set those stories? Can we trust our future stories? And what sort of futures do they show us? Join historian and bestselling author David Christian as he offers an introduction to the strange world of the future.

What we think we know about it at all scales, from the predictive mechanisms of single-celled organisms and tomato plants to the merging of colossal galaxies billions of years from now. Drawing together science, history and philosophy from a huge range of places and times, David will explore how we prepare for uncertain futures, including the future of human evolution, artificial intelligence, interstellar travel, and more.

For all those curious about what the world could look like in the next hundred years and what the solutions to the biggest challenges facing us all could look like, this is an unmissable event.

Note to readers: Go Stargazing is proud to support The Royal Institution by featuring their astronomy-related talks on our website. We recommend visiting their website to learn more about their other fascinating range of presentations.

Please note that this has already taken place on 20/11/2023

Event booking

For more details, including how to book, please see The Royal Institution website.

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Event darkness

The Moon has a big impact on the visibility of celestial bodies in the night sky. Try to plan your stargazing when there is no bright Moon at night as this is when the skies will be at their darkest.

The below chart shows if and when the skies will be at their darkest during this event. Moonlight is shown in light yellow and the Sun's twilight in light blue. Midnight on the date shown is shown as a white line with sunset to the left and sunrise the next morning to the right. A black background with stars shows the best times for stargazing.



Forthcoming events

Below is a list of events at The Royal Institution. View these events on our calendar, add them to your calendar or Google Calendar.

  • Royal Institution Public Talk – An introduction to cosmology (short course)

    Monday 24th February 2025 from 19:00pm to 20:30pm

    The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS

    More info
  • Royal Institution Public Talk – Do we have a standard model of cosmology?

    Friday 28th February 2025 from 19:20pm to 20:45pm

    The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS

    More info
  • Royal Institution Public Talk – How stars built our world

    Monday 31st March 2025 from 19:00pm to 20:30pm

    The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS

    More info
  • Royal Institution Public Talk – Moms on Mars

    Monday 14th April 2025 from 19:00pm to 21:00pm

    The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS

    More info
  • Royal Institution Public Talk – Let there be light! (family)

    Saturday 26th April 2025 from 14:00pm to 15:15pm

    The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS

    More info
  • Royal Institution Public Talk – Why does light exist?

    Saturday 26th April 2025 from 19:00pm to 20:30pm

    The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS

    More info

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