Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In her first CHRISTMAS LECTURE, Sophie Scott tackles how humans and other animals use sounds to communicate. She looks at chirping crickets, hissing cockroaches and groaning deer to reveal the very different ways that animals have adapted their bodies to send audible messages. She also explores how and why the human voice evolved to become the most versatile sound producer in the natural world
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Watch more CHRISTMAS LECTURES here: youtube.com/show/VLPLbnrZHfNEDZxqZEF6PDCLUq1OE6lJW5PQ?sbp=KgthQXh2eElPd25XTUAB
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What is sound and how does it travel? Unpacking the power behind sound, she uses it to shatter glass and reveal how the human body can resonate in a way that amplifies our voices to send our messages further. She also explores how different species use very different frequencies to communicate and why humans can only hear a fraction of these animal messages.
She further shows how we have developed the biological functions that enable us to create such incredible noises – from the arias of an opera singer to the complex sounds of a beatboxer.
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In her first CHRISTMAS LECTURE, Sophie Scott tackles how humans and other animals use sounds to communicate. She looks at chirping crickets, hissing cockroaches and groaning deer to reveal the very different ways that animals have adapted their bodies to send audible messages. She also explores how and why the human voice evolved to become the most versatile sound producer in the natural world
---
Subscribe for regular science videos: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
---
Watch more CHRISTMAS LECTURES here: youtube.com/show/VLPLbnrZHfNEDZxqZEF6PDCLUq1OE6lJW5PQ?sbp=KgthQXh2eElPd25XTUAB
---
What is sound and how does it travel? Unpacking the power behind sound, she uses it to shatter glass and reveal how the human body can resonate in a way that amplifies our voices to send our messages further. She also explores how different species use very different frequencies to communicate and why humans can only hear a fraction of these animal messages.
She further shows how we have developed the biological functions that enable us to create such incredible noises – from the arias of an opera singer to the complex sounds of a beatboxer.
---
The Ri is on Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and Tumblr: ri-science.tumblr.com
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/home/editorial-policy
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
