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Ingenious!

Back in 1997 ABC Science released Ingenious! - an interactive CD-ROM that enabled 8-14 years olds to investigate real-life science mysteries through simulated experiments, games and teamwork.

If you are aged between 20 and 35 you'll likely have encountered the title during your school days. (It was distributed for free to every Australian primary and secondary school).

Ingenious! was developed in partnership with Questacon and contained five separate missions:

Are we Alone? — the Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence

Racing on the Sun — The challenge of designing an racing a virtual solar car

Something Fishy — solving the mystery of a massive die-off of Pilchards in the oceans

Fire Fighter — a bushfire fighting simulation

The last Tribe — working to save a small species of wallaby from extinction.

Ingenious! won numerous awards including the 1998 AIMIA award for "Best Game or Interactive title".

The charming videos below were included with the title as 'Easter eggs' — you had to explore in certain places in order to find them.

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Every creature has a job to do

A delightful short animation explaining the environmental concept of a keystone species. Based on the Cassowary of North Queensland.

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Survival of the fittest

Extinction is a natural process, but is today's rate of mass extinction natural?

The Ingenious! CD-ROM is no longer available; however you can download a zipped copy of it.

You'll need a PC running Windows XP or earlier, or a Mac running OS9 or earlier.

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