The first Orkney International Science Festival took place in 1991, the world's second
science festival. It takes place in September each year, generally at
Kirkwall.
2014 Festival The 2014 festival was opened by the former chief scientist of the
Discovery Channel, Professor Steve ‘Jake’ Jacobs. Topics of the festival ranged from the origin of life in space, to clues from genetics to the people of the Viking Age.
2015 Festival 2015 marks the 25th festival. In 2015, the "International Year of Light" will be a theme of the festival, featuring a conversation with Nobel Prizewinner
Peter Higgs, and with highlights including the Higgs boson, Einstein's universe, Maxwell's waves, exploring Mars and Venus, our changing weather, and cracking the cancer code.
2017 Festival The 2017 festival took place in
Ophir church, opened by
Christopher Somerville, a travel writer.
2018 Festival The 28th festival included
Paul Nurse and
Peter Higgs as key speakers. It covered
hydrogen fuel technology for transport, the
Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of Antarctic's seas and topics such as
particle physics and
black holes. ==Notes and references==