Season
- Season 0 1998-12-27
- Season 1 1970-01-01
- Season 2 1970-01-01
- Season 3 1970-01-01
- Season 4 1970-01-01
- Season 5 1970-01-01
- Season 6 1970-01-01
- Season 7 1970-01-01
- Season 8 1970-01-01
- Season 9 1970-01-01
- Season 10 1970-01-01
- Season 11 1970-01-01
- Season 12 1970-01-01
- Season 13 1970-01-01
- Season 14 1970-01-01
- Season 15 1970-01-01
- Season 16 1970-01-01
- Season 17 1970-01-01
- Season 18 1970-01-01
- Season 19 1970-01-01
- Season 20 1970-01-01
- Season 21 1970-01-01
- Season 22 1970-01-01
- Season 23 1970-01-01
- Season 24 1970-01-01
- Season 25 1970-01-01
- Season 26 1991-12-26
- Season 27 1970-01-01
- Season 28 1993-12-26
- Season 29 1970-01-01
- Season 30 1970-01-01
- Season 31 1996-12-26
- Season 32 1970-01-01
- Season 33 1970-01-01
- Season 34 1970-01-01
- Season 35 1970-01-01
- Season 36 1970-01-01
- Season 37 1970-01-01
- Season 38 2003-12-26
- Season 39 2004-12-16
- Season 40 2005-12-25
- Season 41 2006-12-25
- Season 42 2007-12-23
- Season 43 2008-12-28
- Season 44 2009-12-21
- Season 45 2010-12-28
- Season 46 2011-12-27
- Season 47 2012-12-26
- Season 48 2013-12-28
- Season 49 2014-12-29
- Season 50 2015-12-28
- Season 51 2016-12-26
- Season 52 2017-12-26
- Season 53 2018-12-26
- Season 54 2019-12-26
- Season 55 2020-12-28
- Season 56 2021-12-28
- Season 57 2022-12-26
- Season 58 2023-12-26
- Season 59 2024-12-29
Season 59 Episode
- Season 43 Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Breaking The Speed Limit
- Season 43 Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Chips With Everything
- Season 43 Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Ghost In The Machine
- Season 43 Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Untangling The Web
- Season 43 Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Digital Intelligence
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - Season 43 Episode 4 Hi-tech Trek - The Quest for the Ultimate Computer: Untangling The Web
5.10 60 minutes The impact of computers increased dramatically when they were connected together to form the internet. Millions of users around the world log on to the web every day, forming part of a network that has revolutionised how people communicate, live, work and shop – yet few people could actually explain the inner workings of the system.
Just how does information make its way across the web, through hundreds of computers to the right destination? How does a search engine find the desired page amongst billions of possibilities in a fraction of a second? What will the web be like in years to come? And are credit card numbers safe when they are sent out into the ether?
In this lecture, Chris Bishop untangles some of the mysteries of the web. He reveals one of the most surprising results in computer science, and shows how it is used to make web pages secure. He also studies the different ways of scrambling information to stop eavesdroppers from reading it, and explains how quantum physics can provide a secret means of transmitting data over the internet.
The future of the web remains a hotly debated topic. Experts predict a range of innovations, including an increase in the number of mobile devices that can access the web. Yet questions of web security, privacy, government regulation and the impact on social interactions as people spend more time online remain areas of great speculation. It is clear that the internet will be a major part of the future – but that future is still to be shaped.
