10 Australian inventions that changed the world 🌏
As much as we don’t think it, Australians are actually a very clever bunch of people. Want proof? Here are 10 Australian inventions that have gone on to change the world in one way or another.
1. Black box flight recorder – Dr David Warren
This invention has gone on to make flying the world’s safest way to travel. Virtually indestructible, the black box records the last moments before a plane’s last flight. This includes conversations in the cockpit plus important data. The black box is also not black, despite what you may think. Instead, it’s a bright orange colour that goes by the name of ‘international orange’, which is designed to make finding it easier in debris.
2. Ultrasound scanner – Ultrasonic Institute
The Ultrasonics Research Section of the Commonwealth Acoustics Laboratories Branch (later thankfully shortened to the Ultrasonic Institute) discovered that they could distinguish between ultrasound echoes. This then allowed them to differentiate between soft tissue in the body and convert this information into TV images. Before this invention, pre-natal care was administered by x-ray. With ultrasound though, x-ray was scrapped and we can now diagnose a litany of soft tissue medical problems using a safe and simple ultrasound device.
3. Google Maps – Lars and Jens Rasmussen, Neil Gordon and Stephen Ma
The platform for Google Maps might’ve been developed by two Danish brothers, but they did it in Sydney with the help of Australians Neil Gordon and Stephen Ma, so we’re going to claim it. Beginning as a start-up under the name Where 2 Technologies back in the early 2000s, they were then purchased by Google and transformed into the popular map app that we know and love today.
4. Wi-Fi technology - John O’Sullivan and the CSIRO
Are you playing Uptown Pokies with a mobile device right now? Then you can thank John O’Sullivan and the CSIRO. Back in the 1970s, they were tasked with finding faint echoes of black holes. It was from this research that they discovered the core parts of Wi-Fi technology, which was then invented in 1992. Side note, the CSIRO holds key patents for Wi-Fi technology, which has brought in millions of dollars in royalties for the organisation since its invention.
5. Electric drill - Arthur James Arnot
The electric drill is an indispensable tool, but many people don’t realise that this piece of equipment was invented by an Australian in 1889. Arthur James Arnot was the man who patented it along with his co-inventor William Brain. Of course, the world’s first electric drill didn’t look anything like the handheld drills of today. Still, we can definitely claim this invention as Aussie born.
6. Spray-on skin – Professor Fiona Wood
Before 1999, recovery time for damaged skin was significantly longer and scarring was inevitable in major accidents. Thanks to the work of Perth-based plastic surgeon Professor Fiona Wood and her spray-on skin innovation though, healthy skin can be used to grow new skin in a laboratory. This new skin is then sprayed onto the damaged skin – a technique that’s since played a huge role in treating burns victims both within Australia and throughout the world.
7. Cochlear Implant (Bionic Ear) – Professor Graeme Clark and team
The cochlear implant has been a revelation for people with full hearing loss or a modified sense of hearing. How it works is by bypassing the normal hearing process and replacing it with electric signals that stimulate the auditory nerve, essentially reproducing sound. Prepared by Professor Graeme Clark and his Australian-based team, the cochlear implant device was first used in 1978. It’s now worn by over 20,000 deaf people in over 55 countries.
8. Polymer Bank Notes – Boffins
If you’ve ever used American money, then you’ll know it’s an absolute nightmare. Not only does it tear easily, but you can also kiss it goodbye if it gets wet. Fortunately, our UK-born colonial ancestors were mostly counterfeiters, which may have inadvertently made us experts when it comes to developing better banknote solutions. So in 1988, Boffins from CSIRO came up with BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) banknotes - the first of their kind in the world and now used in most Western countries.
The notepad – J.A. Birchall
Computers and smartphones are here to stay, but the humble notepad deserves a place in the history books. Why? Because in 1902, J.A. Birchall of Birchalls, decided that selling writing paper in folded stacks wasn’t the best way to go about things. This led him to develop a solution that involved gluing together stacks of halved sheets of paper (supported by a sheet of cardboard). Hence, the ‘Silver City Writing Tablet’ – now known as the first notepad – was invented.
10. Electronic pacemaker – Mark Lidwill and Edgar Booth
Finally, another important Australian invention that changed the world is the artificial pacemaker. Developed by Mark Lidwill and physicist Edgar Booth in the 1920s, their pacemaker helps people maintain a regular heartbeat. Now, it keeps more than 3 million hearts beating around the world. And that’s something we here at Uptown Pokies can really get behind.
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