Australian Census

Back in 1911 when Australia first had an official national census, the island nation's population stood at nearly 4.5 million inhabitants, excluding Aborigines. A recent estimate puts Australia's population more than four times higher with more than 22 million. But government officials will know for sure after Aug. 9 when the nation begins a census a full century after conducting its first.

Elevator contest

Scientists from around the world will descend on the Microsoft Center in Redmond, Wash., on Aug. 12 to compete in the 2011 Space Elevator Conference and NASA Strong Tether competition. Competitors hope to impress NASA with their designs for a space elevator—a hypothetical system of anchoring a cable in space to transport goods and objects without the use of a rocket. Though NASA will award prize money for the best entry, it still calls the idea "audacious and outrageous."