Video - 5min

Inventions are often taken for granted as we sometimes use them every day to help us stay healthy or make our lives easier.

Australian inventions have assisted with everyday activities such as hanging out the clothes to dry on a rotary washing line, putting food into the fridge so it keeps fresh, drilling a hole in the wall so you can hang a picture, taking antibiotics to help a throat infection and hearing people laugh if you were born deaf.

Lawrence Hargrave, who achieved the first powered flight in 1894 with four box kites, was said to be symbolic of many Australian inventors and Australian innovation; 'He was interested in the invention, not the money to be made' (Sydney Morning Herald, 26 January 2005).

http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-inventions

So why is Australia such a nation of inventors? Much of our inventiveness has been due to the nature of our geography and isolation. In 1879, Australians developed a way for ice to be manufactured artificially, enabling us to export meat to Great Britain on refrigerated ships. In 1906, the surf lifesaving reel was designed by Lyster Ormsby and built by Sgt John Bond to allow a lifesaver wearing a vest with a rope attached to reach a distressed swimmer. In 1929, Alfred Traeger built a pedal-powered radio at the request of the Rev. John Flynn, as the communications for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Australians were also responsible for more everyday popularly used inventions such as notepads (1902), the Hills Hoist clothesline (1946), the plastic disposable syringe (1949), anti-counterfeiting technology for banknotes (1992) and long-wearing contact lenses (1999).

Another reason is that as a nation, we recognise the value of a culture that promotes new ways of doing things. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) fosters Australian invention. Scientists are constantly working to solve problems in areas as diverse as medicine, agriculture, pest eradication and geology. In 1981, Australia began the world's first community environmental movement, Landcare (1989).

David Unaipon - 'Australia's Leonardo' depicted on the $50 note. Image courtesy of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

A unique Australian invention, the boomerang, had many uses and purposes. The genius and aerodynamics of the boomerang are one of humanity's greatest inventions. The boomerang is known as an aerofoil, a surface which is designed to lift by making use of air current. A boomerang has the profile of a bird's wing with the upper surface being greater that the one underneath. This characteristic produces a difference in pressure which generates lift when the boomerang is thrown through the air.

The woomera, a type of spear thrower, is another well-known hunting tool. The woomera, attached to a spear, propels the spear quickly over distance. Until the invention of the self-loading rifle in the 1800s, the woomera with spear was the fastest weapon in the world.

In modern times, Aboriginal people have contributed to Australia's reputation as a nation of innovators. David Unaipon made significant contributions to science and literature and to improvements in the conditions of Aboriginal people. In 1909 he patented an improved handpiece for sheep-shearing and his many other inventions included a centrifugal motor, a multi-radial wheel and mechanical propulsion device.

Based on the principle of boomerang flight, Unaipon anticipated the helicopter as early as 1914. He gained a reputation at the time of being 'Australia's Leonardo' for his promotion of scientific ideas and is commemorated on Australia's $50 note.

An early 'red egg' Black Box flight recorder designed to survive a crash and fire. Photo by Sue Stafford. Image courtesy of Powerhouse Museum.

The black box flight recorder is one of our best known and most widely used inventions. In the 1950s a number of airplanes had crashed and engineers could not find what was causing these planes to crash. Dr David Warren, a scientist at the Aeronautical Research Laboratory in Melbourne, came up with idea for a machine that would record the voices and instrument readings in the cockpit of an airplane. He thought that this information may give clues as to what happened to cause a crash.

In 1957, the first 'ARL Flight Memory Unit' was produced by Dr Warren and his team. The machine was developed further over the next couple of years and later models were housed in crash- and fire-proof boxes and sold to many countries around the world. Although this housing is usually bright orange, the machine became widely known as a 'Black Box'.

After a crash of an aircraft in Australia in 1960, a judge ordered that all Australian airliners had to carry a flight recorder. Australia was the first country to make a ruling like this. Now every airline in the world has one of Dr Warren's black boxes fitted to their aircraft and the data recorded by these machines has helped make travelling by plane one of the safest modes of transport.

The CSIRO, which fosters innovation, has a long record in the development of technological breakthroughs, and delivers scientific and innovative solutions for industry, society and the environment. CSIRO scientists lead Australian research across a number of different fields, and work with industry and government to solve problems such as using insects to tackle weeds, growing more sustainable crops and improving transportation.

Cooperative Research Centres, or CRCs, are another place where people are working on new inventions. A CRC is where scientists and industry work together. Some CRCs are looking at ways we can transfer data more quickly and efficiently. Others are investigating how we can apply new technologies, such as fibre optics, to current processes, such as seeing what is happening inside someone's body without the risks of surgery.

- on your own or with a partner, take notes during the video.

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