Explore humanity’s greatest inventions and discoveries in a new interactive online project by Google Arts & Culture, in collaboration with Cotton Australia. Google Arts & Culture has launched Once Upon a Try – the largest online exhibition about inventions and discoveries ever curated. Collections, stories and knowledge from more than 110 renowned institutions across 23 countries, including Cotton Australia, are brought together, highlighting millennia of major breakthroughs and the great minds behind them. Cotton Australia is the first agricultural industry in the world to use the Google Arts & Culture technology to share its story. Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said the industry has contributed a wide range of examples on how technology has transformed agriculture and cotton more specifically. “From biotechnology slashing pesticide use, to smart sensors tracking soil health; from solarpowered pumps, to driverless robotic weed seekers, technology has made agriculture one of the most exciting and fast-moving industries in the world today,” Mr Kay said. “The Australian cotton industry is a world leader in the application of emerging technologies, both in research and development, and on farm, so it made sense for us to use the Google Arts & Culture platform to share the incredible gains our industry is making with the world. “Most people will never get the opportunity to visit an Australian cotton farm and see firsthand how technology is applied, so our online exhibitions bring Australian cotton farming to the world,” Mr Kay said. People across the world can now explore more than 400 interactive exhibitions, that pay tribute to humanity’s greatest leaps in science and technology progress, and the visionaries that shaped our world, as well as tales of epic fails and happy accidents. Once Upon A Try also lets you dive into Street View to tour the sites of great discoveries, from deep underground inside CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to high in the sky onboard the International Space Station. Zoom into more than 200,000 artifacts in high definition, including the first recorded map of the Americas from 1508, and Albert Einstein’s letters, never before published online. Google Arts & Culture also invites people to join Tilda Swinton and CERN particle physicists to experience the birth and evolution of the universe in augmented reality – a state-of-the-art use of this new technology. And people can explore NASA’s archive of 127,000 images in a new storytelling tool, powered by Google machine learning. Director of Google Arts & Culture Amit Sood is inviting everyone to participate in the first phase of the online collection that celebrates innovation and science. “Through inspiring, and at times surprising, stories from over 100 partners, you can explore the inventions and discoveries that have shaped our world,” Mr Sood said. “Once Upon a Try is all about that first attempt, the idea, the journey of fulfilling a dream, and we hope it’ll give people that extra boost to find their very own eureka moment,” Mr Sood said. Explore Once Upon a Try on Google Arts & Culture (g.co/onceuponatry) or using our app on iOS or Android, and join the conversation with #onceuponatry To see Cotton Australia’s contributions visit: – Australian Cotton and the Digital Revolution: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/OwLSYjWkkhbjKw – Breeding High Tech Cotton: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/LAKSlHqFN1lSIQ Cotton Australia is the peak representative body for Australia’s cotton growing industry.
