The genuine Spirit of Australia heads towards orbit

The groundbreaking Australian-made Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) nanosatellite has arrived in California for launch in November. This article, adapted from one from the Australian Space Agency, details the technology and the companies behind this achievement. SpIRIT is a joint industry mission led by the University of Melbourne and supported by the Australian Space…

Defence backs Hendon to bolster semiconductor capabilities

The federal government has moved to bolster Australia’s capabilities in the production of semiconductors announcing the award of a defence Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant to Adelaide- company Hendon Semiconductors. The $690,000 grant, to be matched by the company, will modernise Hendon’s Hybrid Integrated Circuit (HIC) and Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) production capabilities. Integrated…

We built a ‘brain’ from tiny silver wires. It learns in real time, more efficiently than computer-based AI

By Zdenka Kuncic, University of Sydney and Ruomin Zhu, University of Sydney The world is infatuated with artificial intelligence (AI), and for good reason. AI systems can process vast quantities of data in a seemingly superhuman way. However, current AI systems rely on computers running complex algorithms based on artificial neural networks. These use huge…

SunDrive to scale up low-cost solar cell production

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $11 million in funding to innovative Australian solar technology company SunDrive Solar to expand its novel solar cell metallisation capabilities. The company’s solar cell production capacity will rise from prototype scale of 1.5 MW/yr to commercial capacity of greater than 100 MW/yr. SunDrive has previously received $3…