ORKNEY INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL

We are thrilled to announce the launch of this year's Science Festival Programme! Explore a diverse range of talks, workshops, exhibitions, and concerts, with topics ranging from Eynhallow’s fulmars to Malaysia’s coral reefs, and from the forging of gold in the stars to the making of the Pentland Firth. There's something for everyone! Check out the full programme here: https://lnkd.in/ecsUkTaR Take a moment to dip into the programme and find what catches your eye before tickets go on sale on Saturday, July 20 at 12 noon. Don't miss out! Image Credit: Selena S. Kuzman

Orkney is continuing to develop as an energy exporter. It started with oil, almost fifty years ago, then came wind and more recently tide, and work has expanded into hydrogen and battery storage and a search for alternative power sources for ships and planes. What may come next? Neil Kermode of EMEC and Gareth Davies of Aquatera give a perspective from the heart of ongoing developments. https://lnkd.in/eBUfyQ5C

John Leith has been relaxing after his National Tree Week efforts with a walk around the Stenness Loch on a lovely autumn afternoon. He walked to the Neolithic Village at Brodgar and then to the bird hide on the Harray Loch, and rounded off with a walk around the Standing Stones. https://lnkd.in/eHixfhaF

It's National Tree Week, and John Leith has been visiting Happy Valley, the woodland in Stenness developed by Edwin Harrold, to bring together images in Slow TV format with the trees and the light and the sound of the burn flowing through. https://lnkd.in/enadtmUh

Thursday 14th November would have been the 79th birthday of our great friend and colleague, Dr John Flett Brown. There are so many people with memories of geological journeys and great adventures, community initiatives and much kind help for others, and wonderfully happy times with family and friends or out around the west shore of Stromness where he could explain the record of the rocks as clearly as the pages of a book. https://lnkd.in/e_DaNc3T Dr Adrian Hall collaborated with him on many geological projects and highlights John's geological achievements. https://lnkd.in/eDaVr_88

To mark National Engineering Day, here's a look by Prof. Brian Cox at the achievements of the Orkney-originated company Orbital Marine Power which has produced the world's most powerful tidal turbine. The concept was developed by Barry Johnston in Stromness while studying at Heriot-Watt University, and to take it forward he developed the company Scotrenewables with an award from the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The design won a series of further awards and today Orbital Marine Power are opening up markets for it with much success. The company was selected by the Royal Society for this video in a new green energy series. https://lnkd.in/eeF9V-g4

Tomorrow's the day we hear another big voting outcome - the five £1m winners in this year’s Earthshot competition. 15 finalists range from regenerative seaweed farming to using distillery waste water to grow Omega-3-rich algae; from transforming waste heat into electricity to spreading solar power for heat and light; and from protecting the Amazon's headwaters to restoring Kazakhstan’s Golden Steppe. Prince William outlines the list. https://lnkd.in/eC6c3ajB From Nepal comes a method to save on heat and cement by forming bricks through pressure rather than clay-firing. From Indonesia comes a way to use palm oil waste to grow a low-carbon alternative. A USA group is chemically engineering natural fibres and ingredients into a high-performance alternative to plastics. A French organisation is fermenting food waste into nutritious and healthy ingredients. From Ghana there is a community waste initiative, generating employment for many, and from Kenya there is sustainable refrigeration for small farmers and fishers to reduce food waste. Other finalists include a wide-ranging project to expand marine conservation areas and a faster way to track DNA of endangered species. There is also a method to electrolyse dissolved carbon dioxide from seawater into solid material like seashells, with hydrogen as a valuable by-product. This year’s finals are being held in South Africa, livestreamed on YouTube through the Earthshot Prize channel in a special programme featuring guests and music, starting at 3.30 pm UK time on Wednesday 6 November.

🔬ORKNEY SCIENCE FESTIVAL Our thanks to everyone who came along to Kirkwall’s Phoenix Theatre today to attend Thistle Wind Partners project Director Ian Taylor’s presentation “Sea Wind for the Future.” It was wonderful to see so many people interested in the engineering behind offshore wind energy production. Ian was also delighted to deliver an update on our #Ayre offshore wind project to the east of Orkney. Well done to the organisers of this year’s Orkney Science Festival of which TWP is a proud sponsor 👏🏻 #science #offshorewind #Ayreoffshorewindfarm

What an opportunity! Thanks for participating in this year’s festival! ⚡️👏🫶