Foldscope: How Can a Functional Microscope be Made Out of Paper?

Foldscope: How Can a Functional Microscope be Made Out of Paper?

So I keep babbling about Foldscopes because – THEY ARE REALLY COOL! These are out of a Stanford lab developed with funds from the Gates Foundation to help defeat Malaria. As a scientist and mom, there are a trillion things to do with these things. Time and time again, when I talk about these scopes to people I get the same shocked look and question – “How can a PAPER microscope work?” Followed usually by a question on where they can get one for their kid, classroom, science outreach, own backpack/purse. Here’s our experience with the basic Foldscope. Keep in mind, that if you support one of the kits, you get additional accessories. We received the paper scope, lenses, magnetic clips (for cell phone photography), and double stick tape, which is a perfect start. As a certified microbial geek, I had slides and cover slips around the house. Assembly Party We invited a neighborhood friend over for our first “assembly” party. Which was lots of fun! First the girls popped out the scope parts. Watching the assembly video helped us put our scopes together. Differences between Foldscope and Compound Scopes Unlike traditional compound scopes where the lens is in one

11 days left for Foldscope – origami microscopes – on Kickstarter

11 days left for Foldscope – origami microscopes – on Kickstarter

When I first heard that Foldscope was launching a Kickstarter to make these amazing origami paper microscopes available to the public, I put 2 different questions up on several of my social media sites: I’m thrilled out of my mind to be writing a post about this new good quality, “disposable”, CHEAP compound (uses microscope slides) microscope. Oh yeah – it’s 140X magnification – you can see bacteria What would you look at if you had such a thing? It’s practically indestructible (can step on it, throw it off a building, run it through the washing machine), it’s about the size of a 3X5 card and fits in your pocket. Runs on watch battery or just held up to a light. If you are a “career-biologist” – How would you use this to teach people about the wonders of science and our everyday (microscopic) world? If you are not a career-biologist – Just wondering what would be interesting to YOU. Is there anything you’d use it for? The feedback was AMAZING! Check out the suggestions and excitement: From the biologists look at: Take my kids on a TARDIGRADE hunt Pond water, leaf litter, whatever is around me Blood and fecal smears with

Put a Microscope in the Hands of Everyone! Foldscope launches Kickstarter!

Put a Microscope in the Hands of Everyone! Foldscope launches Kickstarter!

Who would you educate with a pocket-sized paper microscope that costs ~ $1? Foldscope launches a Kickstarter campaign to “put a microscope in everyone’s hands.” Want to visit another world full of bizarre and beautiful creatures like you’ve never before imagined? Such a hidden world surrounds you wherever you are – the microscopic world. What? Don’t you have a microscope? Foldscope, a new Kickstarter project, aims to change that. Foldscope is a microscope made out of folded paper, a lens the size of a pinhead, and a piece of plastic to serve as a coverslip over a paper “slide”. With these simple materials, my 8-year-old daughter entered the fascinating microscopic world. Foldscope’s goal is to distribute at least a 1 million paper microscopes around the world to share the mystery and beauty of the hidden world around us. Considering their Kickstarter campaign had 1,000 backers and $40,000 of their $50,000 goal within 2 hours of launch, they are easily positioned to do that. However, they need scientists and educators to help convey the wonder of the microscopic world to the public. As one of the inventors, Manu Prakash told me, “This isn’t just a personal tool, but is about bringing