The theme for National Science Week this year is Innovation: Powering Future Industries. The theme incorporates the advancement in technology in all industries, especially using artificial intelligence.
Innovation or invention?
Invention is the discovery of something new. Innovation may improve inventions or change the way they are used. Some innovations do not require an invention, while others combine multiple inventions into a new product.
For example, the first car was an invention, while Uber was an innovation. The iPhone was an innovation based on existing mobile phones using a new combination of existing technologies, and it has changed the way we communicate.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. If you use ‘Hey Siri’ or ‘Okay Google’, you’re using AI. If you’re searching on Google, it’s using AI. If Netflix is recommending a movie based on what you watched last week, it’s using AI. And self-driving cars use AI to help them recognise pedestrians and road signs.
Curiosity Rover Finds New Clues to Mars’ Watery Past
The most powerful research computer in the Southern Hemisphere is called Setonix, in Perth. Setonix is ranked the fourth-greenest supercomputer in the world thanks to innovations that make it more efficient to run, such as liquid cooling.
Irrigation Innovation
Plants need nutrients, sunlight, air and water to grow. Where does the water come from? When the weather is right, it can come from rain. But that’s not always the case. Irrigation is any method that people use to apply water to land so plants can grow. Examples include drip systems that release water to the ground, and sprinkler systems that spray water over crops.
Innovations are improving how we use irrigation. Sensors and smart systems are used to look for leaks in the pipes, and to only water plants when needed. By checking weather forecasts and measuring the moisture in the soil, farmers can make the most of water – a valuable resource.
Is this the safest, most powerful wind turbine in the world?
Spaceplanes - the reusable spacecraft
Spaceplanes are launched into space on a rocket. Apart from a system that helps the spaceplane manoeuvre in space, it has no engine to help it land like an ordinary plane. Instead, it becomes a glider when it re-enters the atmosphere, gliding back to land just like a paper plane. Because spaceplanes can land like an aircraft, they are reusable. Amazing!
In some parts of Australia, feral cattle and buffaloes damage the land and rivers by eating and trampling plants. A new project by CSIRO and Microsoft - The SpaceCows Project - is using satellites to track herds of cattle, and predict where they will go next. This helps Indigenous rangers know how to manage the cattle best. It combines technology, science and Indigenous knowledge to protect important environmental and cultural sites.