There is a great idea being scaled up by Manu Prakash and his research group at Stanford.

It’s a medically useful microscope that is printed on a flat sheet of paper.  The color coded sections can then be punched out and assembled by the end user.  The device has a battery, light source, high magnification (this depends on the lens that is printed in), and some versions have a filter printed in for detecting fluorescent objects.  It can double as a projector as well as a microscope for group or educational activities. It is durable, water resistant, and can even be dropped or stepped on without breaking.  It can also be manufactured for less than a US buck.

Manu forsees this as being able to help healthcare workers anywhere in the world identify some infections (such as TB or Malaria).  Since it is so light, durable, and cheap, there is possibility that it can make high resolution images available anywhere in the the world.  It could also be used as an educational aid.

Foldscope is currently accepting applications to receive a free Foldscope in return for designing a one-page science demonstration/experiment with it.  If you have an idea drop them an application through e-mail.  See the link to the Ten Thousand Microscope project below.

Links:

Technical paper describing the engineering of Foldscope:  http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1403/1403.1211.pdf

Manu Prakash Ted Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/manu_prakash_a_50_cent_microscope_that_folds_like_origami

A link to the Ten Thousand Microscope project: http://www.foldscope.com/

Word count: 237

Conventional wisdom is seven or eight times.

Until 2001.

That’s when High School student Britney Gallivan was challenged by her math teacher to make 12 folds in a paper for extra credit.  She was able to do it  with gold foil (only a few atoms thick) but he insisted on doing it with paper.

She derived formulas for folding in alternating directions (like you would do with a piece of notebook paper) or a single direction (like you would do with a long strip of toilet paper).

She found advantages with the single direction. Britney was able to locate a roll of toilet paper 1.2 km long, purchased it,  and succeeded in folding it. Again and again.

In the end she was able to make 12 folds … and set a new world record.  She told the story in her book  “How to fold paper in half twelve times: An impossible challenge solved and explained”.

Congratulations to Britney for showing that conventional wisdom was wrong!

Links for further reading:

http://www.pomonahistorical.org/12times.htm http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/12/21/1523497.htm

Word count: 167

A nibble is something tiny and easy to chew.

Science is the greatest and most fascinating subject, but it can be quite dense and difficult to digest.

Science Nibbles is a site where we can discuss tiny bits of Science related material.  My goal is to make each post a complete story – and limited to 500 words or less.

If you like a post you can submit a comment.