Manu Prakash and Jim Cybulski Have designed and created a fantastically innovative origami paper microscope which is capable of providing a powerful yet affordable microscope that is capable of fitting in your pocket.
Watch the demonstration video below to see how quickly the folding paper microscope can be constructed and used to see a world normally beyond the scope of our everyday eyesight.
The Foldscope, a portable and versatile microscope made mostly out of paper (water-proof), magnifies the wonders of the microscopic world, without the bulk and expense of a conventional research microscope. Foldscope is designed to bring microscopy out of science laboratories and into the hands of people around the world.
Foldscope is a real microscope, with magnification and resolution sufficient for imaging live individual cells, cellular organelles, embryos, swimming bacteria and much more. Because the Foldscope is so affordable and can be used anywhere, it brings science to your daily life, whether that means looking at what’s growing in your flower pot or watching bacteria from your mouth or analysing the bee stinger that got your thumb. Our goal is to encourage and enable the curious explorer in each of us and make science happen anywhere, anytime.
This(All the footage in the video below was collected in the field using a standard Foldscope with 140X lens, coupled to an iPhone). When we say everyone, we mean everyone – grandpa, mom or that cousin who never really liked science. We strongly believe that curiosity is sparked by genuine “aha” moments. By unshackling microscopes from lab benches and making them affordable for everyone, we can all start seeing the microscopic world which defines our health, our built environment and almost all the magic we call “life”. Don’t just read about this in a book; actually see and feel a racing heart of a microscopic animal or wonder what’s that little thing in your water.
For more information on the new origami paper microscope jump over to the Kickstarter website for details by following the link below.
Source: Kickstarter