Vegemite is an essential part of many Australians' breakfasts, but only theirs. Despite not having popularized this delicacy, many Aussies have contributed to the evolution of our lives in the areas of science, health and technology. Below are 10 inventions created by Australians that have transformed the way we live:<\/p>\n
1- Black box<\/span><\/strong> 2- Electronic pacemaker<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Australian doctor Mark Lidwill and physicist Edgar Booth developed the first artificial pacemaker in the 1920s. Now, more than three million people around the world rely on pacemakers to keep their hearts beating properly.<\/p>\n 3- Google Maps<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Danish brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen developed the platform for Google Maps in Sydney in the early 2000s. Together with Australians Neil Gordon and Stephen Ma, they founded a small company called Where 2 Technologies in 2003. The following year, the startup was bought by Google, which also hired the four of them, and the technology was transformed into what we now know as Google Maps.<\/p>\n 4- Medical application of penicillin<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In 1939, Australian scientist Howard Florey purified penicillin from a special strain of mold. His team demonstrated penicillin's ability to fight bacterial infection in mice and later in humans. The antibiotic was mass-produced and used to help the victims of the Second World War. Penicillin has been used all over the world saving many lives by fighting infection by common bacteria.<\/p>\n 5- Plastic money<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The plastic banknotes were developed in a combined effort by the Reserve Bank of Australia and CSIRO, the federal scientific research agency, in the 1980s. The first banknote put into circulation was the US$ 10, launched in 1988 to celebrate the bicentenary. In 1996, Australia became the first country to have a complete set of plastic banknotes.<\/p>\n 6- Bionic ear<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Professor Graeme Clark invented the first bionic ear at the University of Melbourne in the 1970s - the first prototype was implanted in a person in 1978. Cochlear implants are devices that electronically stimulate the auditory nerve. Graeme's motivation to advance hearing loss technology was generated by his father's own need. So far, cochlear implants have brought hearing to more than 180,000 deaf and partially deaf people around the world.<\/p>\n
\nThe black box was invented by Australian scientist David Warren, who lost his own father in an aircraft tragedy in 1934. It records travel data and is fundamental in the investigation of air accidents, helping to make airplanes the safest form of transportation in the world.<\/p>\n