Young Inventors

Australian student Kieran John's entry in the 2012 John Dyson Awards is the Crawl, a pneumatically powered motorized platform designed to improve the efficiency of power line installation and servicing.

The James Dyson awards for young inventors are always a treasure trove of fresh ideas and up-and-coming innovators - so we caught up with 8 of the Australian finalists.

The 19th FIRST Robotics Competition kicked off today with a new robotics game called “BREAKAWAY”. FIRST sees informed thinking, creative analysis, and Gracious Professionalism as the keys to changing society.

Solar powered devices aren’t new, but English student Emily Cummins has developed an eco-friendly, sustainable fridge based on a simple principle: it uses the sun’s rays to evaporate water, which in turn keeps the contents cool.

Gravia uses a slowly sinking weight to charge 10 high-output LEDs, which fire into the acrylic lens and create a diffuse light output of 600-800 lumens, roughly equal to a 40-watt incandescent bulb.

BioBike, a biodiesel-powered motorcycle that happily does 96kmh and returns a staggering fuel economy of only 2.2 litres per 100 kilometres is among the competitors in