Following a visit to the Orkney Science Festival last year, Sarah reports on the research being carried out on the island into renewable energy, using waves and tides as energy sources.
Far from being a remote island cut off from scientific research, Orkney is at the forefront of many fields of study, in particular archaeology, agriculture and marine renewables. It also plays host to an annual international science festival in September, which attracts audiences from across the world.
"It might seem like a strange place for a science festival", says the festival's director, Howie Firth. "But the amount of scientific research that goes on in Orkney is quite remarkable. And, of course, we had some of the first scientists anywhere. The stone circles and the chambered cairns, with their entrances aligned to the setting sun, were all built by engineers, scientists and mathematicians four to five thousand years ago".
Now at the front line of research into marine renewables, Orkney is continuing its role as a focal point for scientific research.