The Aborigines - Australia's first inventors

Long before English colonisation, Indigenous Australians were already leading the world. Aborigines were first living in Australia about 50,000 years ago. Aboriginal people were the first peoples to use ground edges on stone cutting tools and the first to use stone tools to grind seeds, everyday tools which were developed only much later by other societies.

A unique Australian invention, the boomerang, had many uses and purposes. The genius and aerodynamics of the boomerang are one of humanity's greatest inventions. The boomerang is known as an aerofoil, a surface which is designed to lift by making use of air current. A boomerang has the profile of a bird's wing with the upper surface being greater that the one underneath. This characteristic produces a difference in pressure which generates lift when the boomerang is thrown through the air.

The woomera, a type of spear thrower, is another well-known hunting tool. The woomera, attached to a spear, propels the spear quickly over distance. Until the invention of the self-loading rifle in the 1800s, the woomera with spear was the fastest weapon in the world.

In modern times, Aboriginal people have contributed to Australia's reputation as a nation of innovators. David Unaipon made significant contributions to science and literature and to improvements in the conditions of Aboriginal people. In 1909 he patented an improved handpiece for sheep-shearing and his many other inventions included a centrifugal motor, a multi-radial wheel and mechanical propulsion device.

Based on the principle of boomerang flight, Unaipon anticipated the helicopter as early as 1914. He gained a reputation at the time of being 'Australia's Leonardo' for his promotion of scientific ideas and is commemorated on Australia's $50 note.

Cabin Pressure Monitor

For fiscal year 2005, the Inventions and Contributions Board presented 2,917 NASA employees and contractors with more than $1,951,000 in Space Act Awards. In this issue of ASK, we will focus on the Personal Cabin Pressure Altitude Monitor and Warning System, an invention from Jan Zysko at Kennedy Space Center. The cabin pressure monitor may some day be instrumental in providing a safe environment on small planes and commuter jets where oxygen levels can plunge insidiously and dangerously in a very short time.

NASA Honors Life-Saving 'Invention of the Year'

NASA engineer Jan Zysko was presented today with the agency's Commercial Invention and Government Invention for 2003 award for a life-saving device inspired by a tragic accident.

Image right: NASA engineer Jan Zysko accepts the Commercial and Government Invention of the Year Award from James L. Jennings, Associate Deputy Administrator, Institutions and Asset Management. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

Zysko's invention is called the Personal Cabin Pressure Altitude Monitor, or CPM. It's designed to provide an early warning of oxygen deprivation to the brain, a condition known as hypoxia.

According to Zysko, during cabin de-pressurization of an airliner at a typical cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, one will only have 5 to 12 seconds of useful consciousness before becoming helpless. The euphoric feeling brought about by the early stages of hypoxia masks the dangers of oxygen starvation.

If a loss of cabin pressure goes undetected, hypoxia can be a lethal flying partner. In those conditions a person can feel like they're functioning normally while actually their mental capacity quickly diminishes. Soon after, physical movement is impossible, followed by unconsciousness and possible loss of life.

"If this technology can help avoid even one incident or accident, it will have been worth all the effort and resources put forth," said Zysko, an applied research and development engineer based at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Zysko was inspired to develop sensors to monitor cabin pressure and altitude after the October 1999 aircraft accident which took the lives of golfer Payne Stewart and his colleagues. Zysko built a crude prototype over the Christmas holidays that year and brought it in to work to find out if management would be interested in further development.

When his team was given $100,000 in funding, development started in earnest. In only six months, the device went from a prototype to a fully functioning unit.