The High Commissioner, Helen Liddell, has joined students from Cobar High School to open an exhibition of British mechanical innovation at Questacon in Canberra.

‘Cabaret Mechanical Theatre presents Mechanics Alive!’ is a display of 35 exhibits including an Egyptian god performing sit-ups, a fish jumping into a cat’s mouth and a man eating from the bath he is stewing in.

“Questacon is one of the best science museums in the world”, the High Commissioner told her audience at the opening of the exhibition. “The first industrial revolution began in Britain, and there has never been a better time for young people to be interested in science. Climate change means we’re moving into a second industrial revolution in the search for low-carbon technology.”

The High Commissioner referred to an image of a robotic hand designed in Britain and using the same laws of motion coined by Sir Isaac Newton centuries before. Mrs Liddell explained how the innovations of the future would owe their conception in part to the same scientific laws.

The High Commissioner was welcomed by Questacon’s Director Professor Graham Durant. “Children and adults alike will be intrigued by this collection of contemporary automata and possibly surprised by the way the simple wooden mechanical sculptures capture their imagination”, he said.

Questacon is the National Science and Technology Centre and the exhibition runs until the end of January 2009.

Back to newsroom

Back to top