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Here’s a chance to create your own automatic fishing machine inspired by Aboriginal engineering. Automatic fishing machines were, and may still be, used by Aboriginal people to catch fish in shallow waters. This activity is based on a fishing machine invented by Aboriginal engineers and used near the Murray River.

This cardboard doll loves to leap! It takes a bit of crafting, but the results will make you jump for joy.

What on Earth can jump the highest? Olympic high jumpers can clear more than 2 metres. Pumas might be the best animals at jumping, able to leap 7 metres into a tree. But a team of researchers from the USA have just made a robot that jumps higher than any animal!

There’s a lot of waste in how we make, use and dispose of clothes. CSIRO is looking for ideas to make fibre and materials more sustainable, and build a recycling, environmentally friendly, circular fibre industry.

By Rachel Rayner Dr Keith Bannister knew from an early age he wanted to do something technical with his life. The bedroom floor of his childhood home was usually littered with wires, screws, nuts and bolts.

By David Shaw and Domonkos Szabo The Parkes radio telescope, turned 60 this week! To celebrate, why not make a model of The Dish?

CSIRO’s robotics scientists have a lot to celebrate. They were part of a team that represented Australia in one of the world’s hardest robotics competitions, the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. And they just won silver (and a million dollars).

Imagine you’re a tangle-web spider, and you’ve just snared a nice big critter for dinner. Sounds great, huh? Except there’s a problem. Dinner is 50 times heavier than you, and it’s trying to escape. What’s a spider to do?

You might be stuck at home, but there’s still plenty to make and do! Here are some of our favourite activity ideas for young makers.

Written by Celia Berrell A small steel ball in a short smooth tube held in place by a spring, is the kind of switch that works in a twitch and starts an exploding thing.