The first in our series looking at the changes that have been made in computing and other areas in the 60 years since the first computer in an Australian university was switched on.
Scientists of all kinds turn to computer models to investigate questions they can’t get at any other way. Here’s how models work and why we can trust them.
A third of families living below poverty level access the Internet only through their phones. And young people from these families get access to few learning opportunities.
As machines get ever more complex as we strive to make them complete more complex tasks, it’s time to ask again: will they ever be able to think? But what is thinking anyway?
Modern biological research relies on big data analytics. Vast reservoirs of memory and powerful computing ability mean machines find patterns and make meta-analyses and even predictions for scientists.
How often do you get angry or frustrated with a machine or some piece of technology? Well what if a machine could sense our emotion and then change its behaviour to suit?
Virtually every researcher relies on computers to collect or analyze data. But when computers are opaque black boxes that manipulate data, it’s impossible to replicate studies – a core value for science.
It may have been big, slow and lacking in much memory but almost seven decades on we have a lot to thank the creators of Australia’s first programmable computing machine.
Citizen science will ensure that the skies have no limit when it comes to research, as ordinary people are encouraged to take part in simple acts of exploration.