There is a man named Meow Meow, and he lives in Australia.

Meow Meow–full-name Meow Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow–opened a bio-hacking lab in Sydney in 2014. The lab is inside an artists’ workshop and has about as much room as a walk-in closest. It’s packed full of used scientific instruments, and there’s a workbench in the center, overflowing with test tubes. Known as the BioFoundry, it’s Australia’s first do-it-yourself bio-hacking lab where anyone can pay a membership fee and begin experimenting with DNA and whatever else strikes their fancy.

The hunt for some prized DNA inside of a glow worm tunnel in the Blue Mountains pays off.

Source: Bloomberg

It doesn’t look like much, but the BioFoundry represents something important for Australia. It’s an attempt to energize the country’s underground technology scene and to foment interest in science. And Australia could sure do with that.

Despite being a major power in business, athletics, and entertainment, Australia has struggled to assert itself in technology. Many of its top computer scientists have decamped to Silicon Valley. Plenty of other Aussie scientists have fled because of government policies that curtailed lab funding and the pursuit of big science. This hardly leaves an ideal climate for building booming technology businesses.

On this episode of Hello World, I head Down Under to find out how people like Meow Meow hope to revive Australia’s tech fortunes. In Sydney, I go diving with an underwater drone built by a company called Abyss Solutions and go hunting for DNA with Meow Meow in the Blue Mountains. In Melbourne, I meet with Australia’s Internet playboy Ruslan Kogan—the founder of the online retailer Kogan.com—and fail to catch fish with him.

I also pay a visit to the Australian Synchrotron, which is a government lab doing pioneering work around the discovery and treatment of cancer. It survived the big science funding purge and looks to thrive in the coming years. And I end my trip at Creature Technology–the world’s top animatronics company that makes giant dinosaurs, bears, gorillas, and whatever else museums and amusement parks need.

Every part of one of Creature Technology's dinosaurs—from the eyes and skeleton to skin— is hand-crafted.

Source: Bloomberg

Each one of these stories carries with it a healthy dose of optimism. Australia has an abundance of young, smart, ambitious coders, engineers, and scientists. Thanks to people such as Kogan, there are now models of success for the kiddos to emulate and venture capitalists that have shown renewed interest in seeing what Australia has to offer. For the first time in a very long while, it looks as though companies can start in Sydney and Melbourne and stay there as they get big and play on the world stage. 

As for immigrants looking for a place to work, well, Australia presents a heck of a work-life balance. Sydney has some of the world’s best beaches running right through a sprawling, lively metropolis. People try to spend as much of their day as possible outdoors and get a real escape from their jobs. And Melbourne has a different, although equally enticing, vibe. It’s the more artsy, more European city that teems with creative thinkers, eclectic restaurants, and colorful neighborhoods.

Combine all this with the young, hungry talent, and Australia may soon start doing its thing as a tech hub. One day, well-known startup founders may even be as prevalent as the Hemsworth brothers.