”One of my favourite walks on my local patch, this 2-3 mile circular walk follows a path along the Orphir coastline with views out over Scapa Flow and the islands. Discover the wildlife that you can find in a variety of habitats, including a small pocket of woodland. The walk is on a mixture of paths and quiet roads."
To mark the 25th anniversary of friendship and collaboration between Orkney International Science Festival and the Slovenian Science Foundation, this year Festival is opened by two people at the start of their careers. Dr Gavin Woodbridge from North Ronaldsay graduated this year in medicine. Dr Zarja Muršič is a science journalist in Slovenia.
Soil regeneration is the theme of Prof. Karen Johnson’s opening talk in the 2021 Orkney International Science Festival. Since industrialisation, two-thirds of all global greenhouse gas emissions have come from fossil fuels. And remarkably, the other third has come from the land. ...
Long thought a fable, the Arctic route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans had its final link identified by Dr John Rae. Half a century later, Roald Amundsen made the journey in a fishing vessel, although only after several years of voyaging and overwintering. ...
Blocks of seabed leased for offshore wind represent a massive proportion of the UK’s future electricity demand, with some 19 GW (around one-fifth of current demand) within 100 kilometres of Orkney harbours. Could Orkney become a service base for the new offshore wind ...
The world’s most powerful, most technologically advanced tidal turbine is currently generating energy in Orkney waters. Several of those who developed it join us on film to tell the story. And how does it to feel to be working on the forefront of technology in an island setting?
Speakers bring the latest news from pioneering projects that are opening possible ways to decarbonise Orkney’s ferries and planes. We’ll hear how Kirkwall airport is being used as a testbed for low-carbon flight alternatives, and on the progress of plans to trial hydrogen technology on MV Shapinsay.
Much of cooking is about chemical reactions, says Kalina Dimitrova, engineer and science communicator in Aberdeen. Chemistry starts with reactants and transforms them into products with different properties. Cooking transforms ingredients to provide new textures ...
The stars and their origins are the theme of three works by the Scottish composer Edward McGuire – interwoven here with stories from the Scottish Borders of lives connected by astronomy and space. Each of the five stars is represented by a separate instrument, with the first trumpet for the brightest, fiery Capella. Howie Firth’s text for the linking narrative and its Borders theme was inspired by many conversations with a lifelong friend of the Festival from Jedburgh, the late Dr Tim Dolan.
Join us for an informal evening gathering online. You can chat with some of the speakers about the talks of the day or indeed open up discussion on any topic. You can find out more about the Festival and Orkney itself, open up new discussion, or listen to some interesting stories.
A science festival has a radical role in developing a creative climate for a region. Here is the story of how it began, and how Orkney was involved from an early stage in the concept.
