CSIRO Discovery Centre “Set adjacent to working research laboratories and containing an interactive exhibition, this is a lively way to document Australia’s achievements in scientific endeavour and innovation”

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Important research going on

Parliament House Old Parliament House Floriade Riding the Buses National Gallery National Museum Sleeping with Cops National Zoo CSIRO Black Mountain Tower National Archives High Court War Memorial The Big Dry CLICK ANY PHOTO TO SEE IT AT FULL SIZE	Our next port of call was the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO, as we educated Australians call this venerable scientific institution. The bus dropped us, after meandering round lots of tourist spots, right outside CSIRO; but we couldn’t find a door to get into the place, and had to stop a passer-by and ask for instructions. Well done, CSIRO. The entrance was well hidden up a tricky set of wobbly iron stairs that Tony could have easily fallen off, which led us right into a cafeteria, obviously a tacky ploy by the management to tempt us to buy food to help fund their research, whether we were hungry or not. We weren’t hungry, so we only purchased two big bowls of delicious fruit salad with a nice dollop of yogurt on top.			Two views from the café
It was quite a comfy café, overlooking an atrium and a bunch of people in white coats. As we sat there we watched the scientists across the way, who have no privacy at all, and would never be able to sneak a crafty smoke behind a filing cabinet without the general public calling the cigarette police. We could see them through the palm trees making important phone calls and thinking scientific thoughts and that, and some of them looked at us and our fruit salad enviously - we wondered if they were ever allowed in the café. They looked very scientific in their white coats, and somehow, they made Tony think of ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’. He couldn’t stop making strange jerky movements for two hours after that. Eventually, we went downstairs to where the exhibition area is and had a look around. There are some giant bees there, lots of stuffed birds that sing when you press their buttons, and many gadgets and gizmos to play with.
We were very interested in this energy conversation ‘thingy’, that converts human energy to electrical energy to solar energy - a wonderful invention that will probably save Australia and perhaps the whole world from all the dreadful things that are going to happen to our planet due to global warming. We turned the handle vigorously for at least ten minutes, taking turns, hoping for a truly astounding result, but after working up quite a sweat we almost gave up when all we could produce was a very dim light. But finally, we got our reward - a metal scoop dipped into a bowl, picked up a lolly and dropped it in a slot for us. Maybe this thing won’t save the world after all.
There was a great big pile of bread crumbs. We couldn’t figure out what it was trying to say.					We were quite interested in the sheep that CSIRO are breeding that don’t have to be shorn, and we wondered if they could breed some for us that don’t need to eat in the summer when we have no grass.
There were, of course, heaps of children about, and their minders had them dressed in white lab coats and peering into microscopes, we suppose to encourage them to join the CSIRO and become scientists who crave fruit salad. Some of them looked like little angels.
		The older female students, sixteen or so, were certainly not angels. They stalked around the presentation, glaring at all the old people over seventeen, and scowled at us while they waited impatiently for us to get out of their very important way. Their dress was very interesting, what there was of it. Mammary glands are in fashion again and are on display for all to see. Most of the girls had very small mobiles stuck in their ears and were having loud conversations, obviously about very important things.
		To visit the official CSIRO Discovery Centre website, click here > http://www.csiro.au/discovery