From firework flashes to the Big Bang when the universe began, from Cairngorm granite to the orange berries of sea buckthorn, from the Book of Job to a touchdown on Titan - and from Applecross to Achiltibuie: the first Highland Science Festival is on the way!
It’s one of the many initiatives that have emerged as a result of Highland 2007. Science is one of the six strands of the Year of Highland Culture, and the Festival is bringing together a rich mix of events for the two weeks of 3-17 November.
It opens on Saturday 3rd with the story of the journey into space last month of a piece of north of Scotland rock. It blasted off on a Russian spacecraft, to see how the organic fossil material within it would survive the heat of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The results will give a clue as to whether or not early life could have come to the Earth from another planet, carried by a meteorite.
Astronomy is to the fore in several other events, including a talk on Thursday 8th about the early universe, looking at the distribution of galaxies in the sky and working back to the time when – incredibly - the entire universe was smaller than an atom.
Space travel is also a strong theme, with the latest information from the landing on Titan by the Huygens probe in 2005, and a look at the new opportunities for space tourism that may bring a spaceport to Scotland. The Festival will also look afresh at the first moon landing and at the impact of the original Sputnik, 50 years on.
Medical research will also be featured, including new insights on the causes of diabetes. World Diabetes Day on November 14th will also be marked by a look at the successes of people faced by challenges such as illness.
Science and religion is featured in a talk in Dingwall, looking at the events of the Book of Job in terms of a picture of cosmic disorder. They include an account of fire falling from the sky – so is this a clue to a meteorite impact that is paralleled by other ancient accounts and years of little tree-ring growth?
A link between physics and poetry is brought out in a lecture in Skye, which takes as its theme an image from a poem of Sorley MacLean: ‘Time, the deer, is in the Wood of Hallaig.’ This and images such as a river and a clock lead in to a look at the very latest research on the nature of time itself – as a strange two-dimensional sea.
And sea monsters are the subject of a talk whose venue is on Loch Ness itself. Geneticist Dr Yvonne Simpson will tell passengers aboard the Jacobite Queen of a remarkable story of a sea monster which was seen in the waters off Orkney fifty years ago. She will be joined by locally-based researcher Adrian Shine who will speak on the physical aspects of the loch itself.
The spread of the fulmar is the subject of a film made by photographer Raymond Besant, with scenes from St Kilda and Orkney as well as the Netherlands and Aberdeenshire.
Overseas speakers will come from Italy, Slovenia and Ukraine, and a Ukrainian evening will be held to provide an opportunity for people and businesses who want to build contacts.
A number of events are in the Inverness area, and in Muir of Ord, which will be the venue for a debate on the question of whether whisky-making is an art or a science. Members of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling will provide expert opinion in the event, to be held at the Glen Ord Distillery Visitor Centre. And at the Black Isle Showground Pavilion, author James Miller will tell the story of the men who built the hydro-electric dams.
Other events area spread out across the Highlands, with the theme of ‘The Travelling Scholars’. The theme at Applecross will be herbs and berries, and the potential for developing new crops of these to meet the growing demand for healthy food. At Achiltibuie there will be a talk on the night sky in November and one on an environmental theme.
Full details of the programme are on the Festival website www.highlandsciencefestival.com
The Festival is being organised by the Going Nova group which was set up some years ago to develop science and society activities in the north.
Howie Firth was the Director of the first-ever science festival, in Edinburgh, whose format is now followed worldwide, and he has received numerous awards for his work in making science more accessible. Bill Graham was director of an industrial research laboratory before coming north to work with the careers service, organising many events to widen interest in science and engineering, including visits to NASA’s Space School in Huston. Maarten de Vries is Chairman of the Spaceport Scotland support group and active in astronomy circles in addition to his professional work in broadband and project management training.
The aim of the first Festival, the group say, is to lay the foundations and show what can be done, so that the event can grow for the future. ‘We’ve tried to keep it light and lively,’ says Howie Firth, ‘to build in a real festival spirit and a varied mix of people and themes. We go in time from the origin of the universe 14 billion years ago to the latest research results from this autumn. We go deep into some of the most puzzling philosophical aspects of physics and also look at practical development opportunities. We really hope that there’s something for everyone in the programme.’
Fiona Hampton, director of Highland 2007, said: ‘We are delighted with the diversity of the programme of cultural celebrations that has been brought together this year and are especially pleased that science features so strongly within the Highland 2007 programme. I'm really looking forward to the first Highland Science Festival and am sure the quality and variety of events will delight all those who attend.’
