Great news that Orkney’s extremely successful International Science Festival will again go online for 2021 2nd – 8th of September .

In 2020 the festival organisers provided an excellent array of online talks which you can continue to access on YouTube.

The events for 2021 will also be all streamed live to the Festival’s YouTube channel.

This year’s programme will continue the theme of the Year of Coasts and Waters which is being carried over into 2021.

We’ll have a close-up look at the island of Swona, with its seals, wildflowers and wild cattle. We’ll examine the physics of the wind-powered tall ships, which could sometimes sail several hundred miles in a day. And we’ll hear how wind and tidal power could soon be powering flights from Kirkwall airport through hydrogen or batteries.

Outdoor events on film will include a walk on the old road to Rackwick, with the sound of voices from Hoy, and also a new development – geological walks, giving the opportunity to learn about the formation of Orkney’s rocks from clues preserved in them such as ripple-marks and mud-cracks.

Find out about Ice Age animals like the cave bear, learn about the latest developments in gravitational waves and black holes, and hear about an object that passed through the Solar System which may have been a possible sign of extraterrestrial life.

These are just a few initial topics out of what will build up to be at least 70 events. More details soon, and post updates on the Festival website.

Meanwhile if you’d like to hear more about one of this year’s speakers, with a talk on the early days of the Hudson’s Bay Company and its use of traditional medicines from the Indigenous people of Canada, take a look at this article in the OISF online Frontiers magazine.

The Orkney News has many archived reports on previous Orkney International Science Festivals. You can check them out using our Search button.