Despite the many developments in forensic science, there are areas where more advances are needed, says Prof. Niamh Nic Daeid of the University of Dundee - and with each advance there can be risks and challenges. She looks ahead to new and more sensitive methods of detecting DNA, the increased use of AI, and the development of virtual reality to recreate crime scenes.
In 1847 a young man in poverty found a way to open a small shop in Blackpool. Today the Booths chain, with stores across the north-west of England, continually seeks to encourage local suppliers and takes a pride in its staff. The company’s chairman, Edwin J. Booth, describes how his great-great-grandfather's values continue to make sound business sense.
The first transatlantic cable, laid in 1858, soon failed, and it was only ten years later that Brunel’s steamship Great Eastern was able to go back with a strong enough cable and a safe enough underwater route. And as Dr Alan Walker of Edinburgh University explains, a key role in the project was played by the Scottish scientist Lord Kelvin, born 200 years ago.
Through storm and darkness the lifeboats have answered the maroons for 200 years. Naval architect Dennis Davidson and former seaman Len Wilson look back to the earliest designs and the seagoing disasters that led to the RNLI's founding. They describe the establishment of the Orkney stations, the men who crewed the boats, and some of the hazardous and daring service they provided.
Ocean plastic is cluttering beaches and killing marine life. One approach, says Dr Katharina Vones of the Royal College of Art, is to turn it into a resource. She describes a tabletop-scale process which schools and communities can develop, with a shredder and extruder that converts it into filament for 3D printing – and hence into whatever design anyone wants to 3D-print.
Marine biophysicist Dr Russell Arnott describes how a whole plethora of marine animals use the laws of physics to survive and thrive in all parts of the ocean. Marine biology meets physics in a range of examples, from the acoustic properties of whales to the tiny shrimp that packs a supersonic punch.
Tinier and tinier quantities of DNA can now be detected – giving forensic scientists a problem: a crime scene may have traces of people who have never been there. To what extent can DNA be transferred from place to place, and how can different traces be sifted out? Dr Alexander Gray from the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science in Dundee describes the challenges.
In hard times past Hudson’s Bay furs and Greenland whaling helped Orkney’s economy and people to survive. Today’s changing climate and an unsettled global situation is bringing northern regions together. Could this open a new frontier for Orkney?
Dr Jamie Gallagher takes you on a guided tour of the building blocks that make up the planets, the universe – and us. "The periodic table has been an emblem of science for over 100 years. Behind this iconic classroom poster live tales of romance, murder, greed and wonder."
One of the novels of Eric Linklater, who died 50 years ago, spans Shetland, Faroe and Orkney past and present in a fateful mood showing how chains of events can build up to tragic conclusions. But the ending has a fresh picture of the nature of Time and a feeling of hope and redemption. And that picture of Time, says Dr Howie Firth, actually appears at the frontiers of physics today.
