Night skies above us and the latest developments in space science are the subject of forthcoming schools and community presentations in Orkney. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh are joining together with staff from the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh’s visitor centre to visit several schools and give a public presentation in Kirkwall on the evening [...]
Generating electricity from kites is a developing technology. Hands up if you visited the original 3MW wind turbine on Burger Hill, Orkney in the 1990s. In its day it was the biggest wind generator in the world. Today that lumbering, two-bladed monster on its tapered concrete tower has gone the way of Homo neanderthalensis, superseded [...]
A northern aircraft and astronomy centre is opening again for Easter. One of the attractions of Morayvia is that you can be shown round by some of the crew who flew the actual aircraft. Mary Leonard enjoyed a preview. While it may at first sound like a small European principality nestled somewhere near Monaco, Morayvia [...]
Nosing (or smelling) whisky is a very important part of the distilling industry. Nosing takes place when the new make spirit is produced, as the whisky matures and as the final product is prepared. When we are appreciating Scotch whisky we use lots of our senses, with smell being one of the most important; I [...]
Iwas standing at the summit of Cairngorm thinking about what I would do when I retired from science teaching. Behind me were a stone igloo and a steel tower. Suddenly there was a grinding noise and an array of meteorological instruments rose slowly from the Heriot-Watt igloo. There is another array of instruments on the [...]
The Museum of Communication of Burntisland in Fife collaborates with Orkney Wireless Museum in putting on presentations in the annual Orkney International Science Festival, and the theme for the two museums this year will be early radio, with a lecture/demonstration on ‘Maxwell’s Waves’. Prof. Tom Stevenson from Orkney, who has spoken in every Orkney Science [...]
Simple mathematical rules can be used to create the most unexpected shapes and patterns, and nowhere is this more evident than in the world of plants and shells. In their 2013 project Botanica Mathematica, artist Madeleine Shepherd and mathematician Julia Collins have collaborated to explore how different mathematical knitting rules can mimic the growth of [...]
History Ever since early photography people have wanted a wider field of view and there was a patent applied for a panorama camera as early as 1843. Early panorama cameras were of the swing lens or rotation type. With the swing lens camera the camera is fixed and the lens rotates, moving the projected image [...]
Making things yourself is coming back. All the various developments in technology are providing us with incredible equipment that is manufactured in big modern factors and sold to us – but those same developments are also making it possible for us to do much more for ourselves. The desktop computer started us off with printing [...]
Night skies above us and the latest developments in space science are the subject of forthcoming schools and community presentations in Orkney. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh are joining... Read more →
Among her many community activities in North Ronaldsay, Kathleen Scott coordinated events each year for Orkney International Science Festival and the British Science Association – talks, workshops, night sky photography... Read more →
Three men are recognised as the pioneers of the LIGO system for detecting gravitational waves, one of the greatest physics discoveries of all time. And it turns out that one... Read more →
A new book on the sinking of HMS Hampshire a hundred years ago has been published. Julie Anya Guthrie welcomes it and reflects on the story of Lord Kitchener and... Read more →
The window of a former Orkney clothing shop is back in action with costumes this week. Aislin, Nyx, Nehalennia and Calypso were specially created for the Year of Innovation, Architecture... Read more →
Let’s go to the stars! Human interstellar flight is a problem with significant challenges. The possible approaches to an interstellar journey range from “slow” travel, at 1% of the speed... Read more →
When location, time and imagination come together, unique accomplishments are possible and this has certainly proven to be the case for Arbikie Highland Estate, a 2000-acre farm on the Angus... Read more →
Like a Nordic port of old, the Faroese capital of Torshavn smells evocatively of salt and tar. As we disembark the ferry, the harbour waters lap beneath the modest parliament... Read more →
You’ll know it when you see it, with its delicate mauve petals and yellow centre, its short stalk rising from the little rosette of green leaves. It’s a little distance... Read more →
Generating electricity from kites is a developing technology. Hands up if you visited the original 3MW wind turbine on Burger Hill, Orkney in the 1990s. In its day it was... Read more →
Through the 20th century the only commercial fishery in Graemsay was lobster, along with the occasional halibut or skate. In the main, whitefish and partan (edible crab) were for the... Read more →
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