Australia is the home of multiple innovations that have had immense use across the world. These innovations range from the medical field to technology and other various other fields. While Australia might not be the home to the most number of tech innovations, it has definitely left a mark in the industry.
Australia accounts for about 3.9 percent of all research around the world. It is thus only fair that some of its innovations are heavily represented in technological fields.
Any individual working in the tech market, foreign exchange market, medical field, and other areas must have used a piece of Australian technology at one point in time like Admiral Markets.
There are many renowned tech inventions from Australia that have already earned the country a name. There are still others that are yet to earn a huge reputation at the world’s stage. The following are five Australian innovations that changed the world.
The film industry around the world has been defined by clapperboards. This simple yet crucial tool was invented in Australia by Francis William Thring. Before the clapperboard, it was quite difficult to organize film production as there was no easy way to label various scenes and synchronize video and audio. The clapperboard, however, introduced the labels that would indicate the precise scene, take and the name of the production in a single board. The clapperboard has since then been adopted all around the world.
The Ultrabattery by CSIRO is one impressive innovation that has solved a persistent problem in the energy-related fields. This piece of innovation is a lead-acid battery that features a supercapacitor in the construction.
By combining the ability to store energy with the ability to change energy levels, this innovation has essentially solved a problem that has been disturbing researchers for ages. Most batteries in the market cannot store electricity and still provide it at varying times. They are not thus efficient when used to store intermittent energy.
The Ultrabattery has the ability to be used as a great storage for renewable energy and this is important as the world goes green.
Simple GPS technologies were not developed up until 2003 when Where 2 Technologies heralded the innovation in Sydney. This company, developed the Expedition application to make it easier to navigate the vast Australian territory. Google went on to acquire the company and the product in 2004.
After this acquisition, many other additional features were included in the GPS for it to become the vastly popular program it is today. The original Australian innovation is thus still present through Google Maps.
4. Ultrasound scanner
Ultrasound machines are used in the medical world to explore the internal structures of the human body. The first researchers to discover that it was possible to create images from ultrasound frequencies were working at the CSIRO.
The researchers discovered that ultrasonic images of the tissue were possible since ultrasound waves could penetrate the body. Since it was commercialized in 1976, the technology has been used all around the world in the medical field. The technology is today the most effective because it is affordable and also safe.
5. Medical Nano-patches
Another great Australian invention that is on the verge of revolutionizing the medical field is the Nano-patch. Medical Nano-patches are the proposed replacements of the needle. During a medical examination, blood samples are necessary for disease detection. These samples are almost exclusively taken via a needle injection.
The uncomfortable needles could, however, be a thing of the past soon. Nano-patches come with several microscopic needles which do the same job of taking protein samples from the blood for medical analysis. Not only will this invention reduce the pain involved in medical procedures, but a lot of time will also be saved in the lab.
The above innovations are definitely great achievements for Australia. As huge as they are, they do not mark the end of the road for Australian innovation. There has been an increased momentum in the Australian research scene and much more is thus expected.
The research is also not limited to a single field. Indeed, the focus is on every possible field where technology can improve on existing solutions. Australia is thus at the apex of innovation in the world and the momentum will definitely persist.