More Future Than You Think

As the spacecraft travels as close as 43 million kilometres to the Sun – closer than any mission before – a company from Lower Austria plays a key role. Beyond Gravity Austria GmbH manufactured the protective shield at its Berndorf facility, ensuring the satellite can withstand the intense heat during its mission to study the solar wind.

Kurt Gödel laid the theoretical foundations for modern computer science in 1931 with his incompleteness theorems. Just a year later, Gustav Tauschek developed drum memory, the first form of data storage and a precursor to the hard drive. In 1936, Paul Eisler invented the printed circuit board, and in 1940, Hedy Lamarr (yes, the actress) introduced frequency-hopping technology – initially for radio-controlled torpedoes, but now forming the basis of modern wireless systems like Wi-Fi and UMTS.

The famous Schrödinger equation was developed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1926 and remains the fundamental law of quantum mechanics to this day. It describes the evolution of the quantum mechanical state of a physical system over time and space. 

The Kaplan turbine was developed in 1913 by the Austrian engineer Viktor Kaplan and remains one of the world's most important types of turbines for hydroelectric power plants to this day.

In 1912, the Austrian physicist Victor Franz Hess discovered cosmic rays – a fundamental discovery in modern physics that was honored with the Nobel Prize in 1936. 

In 1904, the Styrian physicist and priest August Musger laid the foundations for slow-motion technology. Today, it is standard practice in sports broadcasts, film productions, and industrial research.

In 1901, the Viennese physician Karl Landsteiner discovered the major blood groups, thereby laying the foundation for safe blood transfusions worldwide. For this achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.

Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk, discovered the laws of inheritance through systematic cross-breeding experiments with peas in his garden. His work, published in 1865/66, was only recognized in 1900. In 2022, his 200th birthday was celebrated as the “Year of Mendel.” His principles still underpin pedigree analysis, and the term “Mendelian” remains central to modern genetics.

All three of these everyday items of the modern world were invented by Austrians. As early as 1844, Jacob Christoph Rad developed the first sugar cube. More than a hundred years later, in 1951 to be exact, Carl Djerassi achieved a breakthrough with the birth control pill, and six years later, Karl Kordesch, along with two other Austrians on his team, invented the alkaline battery (alkaline-manganese cell), which is still used in millions of devices. Today,  batteries, energy storage, and electric mobility are among the most important markets of the future.