Some weeks ago, a nine-year-old macaque monkey called Pager successfully played a game of Pong with its mind. While it may sound like science fiction, the demonstration by Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink is an example of a brain-machine interface in action (and has been done before). A coin-sized disc called a “Link” was implanted… Read more »
Canadian building management company BGIS will expand its Australian operations centre in Adelaide to monitor clients across the Asia Pacific. The global company plans to utilise the latest Internet of Things technologies in Adelaide, South Australia to remotely control buildings in other states and countries through internet-connected devices and sensors. This includes the monitoring and… Read more »
Over the past few years we’ve seen an explosion of agrifood technologies and Australian agricultural innovation. Part of this broad trend has seen investment in agrifood tech in Australia grow from US$29.9 million in 2017 to US$90.8 million in 2019, according to AgFunder. There has been a significant increase in capital investment into developing agrifood technologies,… Read more »
A number of technologies and tools got a chance to prove themselves for the first time in the context of COVID-19. Three researchers working in gene-based vaccines, wearable diagnostics and drug discovery explain how their work rose to the challenge of the pandemic, and their hopes that each technology is now poised to continue making… Read more »
It’s early days in my tenure as Australia’s Chief Scientist but I have already been struck by how central science is to the national policy agenda. I knew this as an observer, but since I took up the post it has become clear how many initiatives are looking to science to lead the way. As… Read more »
The South Australian group behind the manufacture of the Brabham BT62 supercar is positioning itself to become a major producer of electric buses for the emerging Australian market. Co-located with sister company Brabham Automotive in Adelaide, South Australia, BusTech Group is gearing up to produce at least 60 electric buses for the NSW Government over… Read more »
Since May 2007, US-based digital artist Mike Winkelmann (who goes by the name Beeple) has posted a new artwork online every day. He posted the 5,000th one in January, and has now packaged them into an enormous digital collage titled Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which was auctioned online by Christie’s on February 25. The… Read more »
Code Camp was one of Australia’s fastest growing social impact and education ventures when the coronavirus pandemic hit 12 months ago. Founder Ben Levi had spent six years building the country’s largest STEM school holiday programs, teaching more than 100,000 Australian students to design and code apps, online games, digital worlds, and websites. The business… Read more »
Technology developed in South Australia to remotely measure vital signs is being used at universities and workplaces in the United States to help detect COVID-19 cases. The University of South Australia (UniSA) technology uses algorithms and artificial intelligence to measures heart rate, breathing rate, temperature, movement and blood oxygen saturation. It was developed to be… Read more »
Medicine delivery service Swoop Aero has come home after proving the success of its idea in Africa and Pacific to begin delivering medicine by drone in outback Queensland Former air force pilot Eric Peck and mechatronics engineer Josh Tepper founded the Melbourne-based startup in 2017 to deliver on-demand healthcare by autonomous air vehicles in challenging… Read more »
Information is everywhere, right? Well, here in Australia, we now have one less source of news information at our fingertips. Yesterday, Facebook banned Australian users from posting news links, and sharing or viewing Australian and international news content. This will have a far-reaching impact on many organisations and groups. For the public – people of… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank is launching a CommBank Green Loan for its home loan customers to purchase and install renewable technology, offering an interest rate of just 0.99%. CBA Group Executive Angus Sullivan said the move was part of the bank’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. “The CommBank Green Loan offers an historically low… Read more »
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and REA Group are among several high profile investors backing a $3 million Series A round by fragmented property platform Bricklet, valuing the startup at $28 million after just 18 months. Original investors Lakeba, Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR), Stockland (ASX: SGP) and Mihubb also joined the round, along with property investment… Read more »
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk and his charitable arm, the Musk Foundation, is backing a US$100 million (A$130m) prize to deal with carbon removal to tackle climate change. Non-profit XPRIZE, which is running a range of cash prize competitions to tackle global challenges, is launching the $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal, a four-year global… Read more »
The Victorian government’s startup agency, LaunchVic, is on the hunt for investors to join it in a new angel network to back what it says is the state’s largest startup sector: healthtech. The plan follows through on the 2019 Angel Network report by Professor Josh Lerner, which recommended that LaunchVic establish sector specific angel networks… Read more »
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Smart hotels get even smarter: 72 Byte to launch in Australia with AI expert backing 
Tassie carbon accounting startup banks $5.3 million Seed round 
Eucalyptus head of growth Matt Rossi departs to launch his own marketing startup, Oodle 
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