The Australian and Queensland Governments will invest almost $1 billion into frontier technology company PsiQuantum to build the world’s first fault tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane. The investment follows decades of investment by governments in quantum computing research which has established a healthy science based start up sector, however the size of the investment is…
Satellite manufacturer Space Machines Company has announced a joint Indian-Australian mission on space debris management, supported by an $8.5 million grant from the Australian government. SMC, which bills itself an “in-space servicing firm”, announced “Space MAITRI” (मैत्री, or Mission for Australia-India’s Technology, Research and Innovation) on Tuesday, saying the joint industry-led mission will “demonstrate progress…
By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and cannot cope with more wind and solar farms and transmission lines. So how much land is needed to fully decarbonise energy…
Perth marine engineering firm VEEM and propeller developer Sharrow Marine are to advance to manufacture of a new type of propeller designed for inboard motor propulsion. The two companies have replicated for inboard motors the advances made by the original Sharrow propeller which eliminated cavitation in traditional propellers. Now the US and Australian company have…
Textile technology developer Xefco has raised $10.5 million in its latest funding round led by Australian deep technology fund Main Sequence Ventures backing its technology to reduce textile emissions. Xefco has been commercialising its patented water-free textile finishing and dyeing solution, Ausora, aiming to create a greener supply chain for the fashion industry. Other new…
Faltering business expenditure on R&D is a major factor in Australia’s poor innovation performance. Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Dr John Howard identifies businesses’ failings. This is an edited excerpt (full paper link below). From 1981 to 1995, Australian businesses made steady progress in lifting…
Energy technologies developer 1414 Degrees has announced it has acquired exclusive rights to a new method for producing net zero hydrogen from natural gas. The invention by the University of Adelaide (UoA) is the subject of an international patent application. The rights are in addition to rights acquired in January, also from the UoA, for…
By Hendri Yulius Wijaya, The University of Melbourne and Kate Macdonald, The University of Melbourne Around the world, more and more companies are publishing sustainability reports – public scorecards detailing their impacts on society and the environment. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports outline the positive and negative effects of a company’s activities, and the…
CRDC Australia has officially opened a new factory in the Melbourne suburb of Tottenham, where it is transforming end-of-life hard and soft plastics into “an Eco-Aggregate that improves concrete.” “Following the US, Costa Rica, and South Africa, we are proud to be the fourth global location hosting this groundbreaking technology,” said Shane Ramsey, Managing Director…
University of NSW Sydney researchers have assembled “protein nanowires” created by engineered bacteria and found that these were able to conduct electricity over short distances and even create it out of thin air. According to a statement from UNSW on Monday, the team used protein filaments created by E. coli (a bacteria that can cause…
