Jul 17 2009
Cry “Eureka!”
By David Finnigan
At some point around 6,000 years ago, someone invented horse-riding. Up until then, no large mammal had ever made a regular practice of climbing on the back of a still larger mammal and using it for transport.*
Equus Ferus
We have no real information about the enterprising stone age farmer who first looked at an Equus ferus and thought ‘What if I climbed on its back?’ but if he or she were alive today, they would probably appear on the ABC television show The New Inventors.
The New Inventors features three “totally new, never before seen inventions” on the show each week, according to the show’s website. The new wadgets and gadjets are then “demonstrated, examined, prodded, pushed, pulled and occasionally dropped by host James O’Loghlin” before their inventors are subjected to a barrage of questions by the judging panel. The winner advances to a grand final at the end of the year.
Reckon you’ve got a few nifty inventions up your sleeve, but no so keen on powdering up for the little screen? Well, why not try bouncing them off New Inventor Ruth Fogarty’s step-by-step guide to turning your brilliant idea into riches and fame.
Ruth covers the ‘Eureka Moment’, documenting your idea, and also some of the knottier issues such as ‘To patent or not to patent’. She also answers the golden question: What are the most probable grounds for failure for new inventors? Find her guide here.
The redoubtable Dom Dowling of Quake Safe
Even better, if you’re an inventor or a would-be inventor, head along to the see New Inventors panelists Bernie Hobbs, Chris Russell and Christine Kininmonth, joined by successful inventors Dom Dowling (inventor of Quake Safe) and Dr Vivian Robinson (inventor of Electronic Water Purifier) in a discussion about the science and the struggle of invention. The event is part of the Big Day of Science which, in turn, is part of the Ultimo Science Festival which is, in turn, part of NSW Science Week.
See event details here.
* Please correct me if this is wrong: I would love to be proved wrong.
