Talks 2023

Twenty years ago the world’s first marine energy test centre was established in Orkney, taking advantage of the islands’ challenging sea conditions for evaluating new wave and tidal power devices in action. EMEC continues today as a world leader, and has brought further developments in its wake, including a move to a green hydrogen economy, with an onshore production plant in Eday generating hydrogen from wind and tidal energy.

Orkney’s ferries are ageing and fuel-prodigal – but what can replace them? Could it be new energy-efficient ships, or bridges or tunnels or causeways – or a mix of all the various options? Roy Pedersen, former head of transport for HIE, joins Prof. Alf Baird to set out the options.

The immense amount of carbon dioxide that green plants absorb is far outweighed by the amount of carbon lost from soil, due to the continuing depletion of organic matter. But, says Prof. Karen Johnson of Durham University, we can rebuild our soils and the local economy at the same time.

Slovenia lies on the crossing point of four great routes across Europe, including the ancient Amber Route from the Baltic to Italy and Greece. It lived on the edge of empires like Rome, and was later the contact zone between the German and Hungarian kingdoms. What has that crossroads position meant for trade and culture over the centuries? Archaeologist Dr Tina Milavec of the University of Ljubljana gives a picture of a central European land of mountains and forests between the Alps and the Mediterranean, the Pannonian Plain and the Balkans.

It used bronze gears to predict the position of sun, moon and planets – and eclipses as well. It was recovered in 1901 from an ancient Greek shipwreck, greatly corroded and encrusted, but over decades researchers have applied techniques to reveal its original form. Dr Vassilios Spathopoulos tells the story of the 2,000-year-old Antikythera mechanism and shows a working model of a machine that was in action at the time of Caesar and Cleopatra.

Smart clothes and new uses for traditional textiles, digital skins and virtual clothes to wear online, projects bringing together computer skills and creative designs …. A team from Robert Gordon University describe the new horizons afforded by the application of digital technologies to clothing, fashion and fabrics. Dr Karen Cross from RGU’s School of Creative and Cultural Businesses will be joined by design researcher Josie Steed from Gray’s School of Art and Dr Yang Jiang from RGU's School of Computing – with designs by Kirsteen Stewart and music by Brian Cromarty.

Pier Arts Centre, Stromness Many of the artists in the Pier’s permanent collection, including Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo, were deeply influenced by a remarkable book written by a remarkable man. D’Arcy Thompson was Professor of Natural History at University College Dundee and the University of St Andrews, but had wide-ranging interests including mathematics, art, philosophy and the classics. His 1917

What really causes the northern lights? Plasma physicist and explorer Dr Melanie Windridge describes an Arctic journey of discovery through Scandinavia, Canada and Svalbard, interweaving the underlying science with background history, folklore and landscape – and spectacular images of the Northern Lights.

Two fossil hunters and a working gravel pit near Swindon with something sticking out – it was the top of a huge fossilised mammoth leg bone from around 215,000 years ago, in a warmer period between ages of ice. The remnants of five mammoths were found – and a human-made hand axe – leading to the documentary Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard, and making this ‘one of Britain’s most significant Ice Age discoveries in recent years,’ according to Historic England. The discoverers, Neville and Sally Hollingworth, tell the story and describe the ancient world in which the mammoths and their hunters lived.

Our political decision-making systems, national and international, have developed over centuries. Sometimes – as with the many COP meetings – they operate extremely slowly. Sometimes with economic decisions they move dangerously fast. One difficulty is the sheer complexity and uncertainty of situations. But, says Prof. Iain Alasdair MacLeod, the discipline of system planning is standard practice for such situations, and is widely used. So could system planning also be used for political decision-making? And if so, how? Former Scottish Education Minister Peter Peacock chairs and welcomes questions and discussion.

The Fletts have long been to the fore in almost every aspect of Orkney life from Orkneyinga Saga times onwards, from farming and business to education and study, and not forgetting numerous victorious Harray teams in the Parish Cup. How far back can we trace them? And where did they originally come from? Prof. Jim Flett Wilson of Edinburgh University brings genetics together with family history to trace the story – and goes on to look at the Drevers, the Sinclairs, the Rendalls and the Linklaters, among others, as well.

70 years ago the Earl Thorfinn, on her round of the North Isles, was hit by a hurricane and had to run before the wind towards Aberdeen. Captain Hamish Flett and his crew coped with mountainous seas that smashed her steering gear and conditions that destroyed other vessels. How did the ship survive, and how has marine communication developed over the years to help in such situations? Prof. Tom Stevenson tells the story.

They are tiny single cells, invisible to the naked eye. They can consume agricultural and food waste – and produce fuel, fertiliser, feed, nutrients and pharmaceuticals. Dr Matjaž Vidmar of Edinburgh University describes the amazing abilities of microalgae and his current research into their potential.

Photonics – the optical equivalent of electronics – underpins modern society. It includes the optical fibres of the internet, high-power lasers that cut and weld, and solar panels. Prof. Robert R. Thomson of Heriot-Watt University describes some remarkable state-of-the-art applications for photonic technologies.

Jane Cooper’s interest in knitting brought her to Orkney to set up a Boreray flock with the last few sheep from the Highlands – and she was astonished to find she was the sole custodian of this flock in the world. She began tracking down the origins of the Boreray breed and tonight tells the story.

The start of brewing and distilling is making the malt: getting the grain to sprout and convert insoluble starch into fermentable sugars. It’s mostly done today in large maltings but, says Hugh Alexander, micro-malting opens the way to try different types of grain, and for smaller-scale specialist brewing at community-sized levels.

The writer F. Marian McNeill, born in Holm in 1885, worked through times that were sometimes hard to save a heritage in books like The Scots Kitchen and The Scots Cellar, and the four-volume folklore and customs study The Silver Bough. Fifty years on from her death, her work is coming to the fore again amidst rising food prices and the need to maximise nutrition from the food available around us. Moray food writer Liz Ashworth tells the story of a life of warmth, resilience and determination, with readings by AB and CD; and Douglas Montgomery plays his march F. Marian McNeill from Holm.

The Northwest Passage was for so long the Holy Grail of exploration. Maps of the area are littered with the names of those who came back, and those that did not. Today more ships are making the journey and last year Maiwenn Beadle became the first professional female captain to take a vessel through the 4,500-mile passage, from Davis Strait to Bering Strait. Now living in Orkney, she tells the story of the journey and shows spectacular images of sea, ice and wildlife – and some Orkney names along the route.