Adventure Ausrama Blog

Australians tend to be early adopters of new technology because they have inquisitive minds. Our old enemy, the shark, will always be around, so it is not surprising that drone technology is being used to solve this problem. It is not the buzzing sound that will scare sharks off. Drones are being used to gather visual information about where sharks are and the number swimming around, the theory being that if we know this we can be more careful. At the moment hooks are baited on lines attached to floating drums. This method is a simple way to catch sharks. Unfortunately, sharks not tempted by the bait remain in the area. Baited hooks have warning devices in them that notify watchers on a boat when sharks take them. This is a clumsy way to keep sharks at bay. Targeting sharks observed by drones is a better solution. Drones are far cheaper than helicopters and do a better job, going right down to sea level to collect data. ◆   Technology by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia F

Mosquitoes are extremely robust. They can survive being hit by raindrops 50 times their size. The insect is knocked down a little by the raindrop travelling at 300 times normal gravity, but it recovers and flies on. This attribute was discovered by videoing insects actually being hit by raindrops from artificial rain. There was no improvement in stopping the spread of malaria. Better ways of designing tiny flying robots was enhanced, however, because rain tends to knock mechanical drones off course. Even aeroplanes are detrimentally affected by rain. The raindrops on mosquitoes tests were exciting to watch. As the rain hit them they dropped, then recovered and sheltered on the wall of the test area. They fell an average of 13 body lengths. Nearly all hits were glancing blows which made mosquitoes roll, pitch and yaw. A direct hit led to a fall of 20 body lengths. The theory is that mosquitoes are so small the speed of raindrops falling to earth is not affected, This means