Mighty Oaks from tiny acorns grow, and great benefits from humble paper come. That’s pretty much the inspirational message of Stanford bioengineer Manu Prakash who gave a TED Talk this week describing a new microscope that can be folded from a single flat piece of cardstock. The various microscope parts are “punched out” of the sheet, and combined with a lens, an LED and a tiny battery. In this way, the FoldScope can be used in the developing world to provide vital, inexpensive medical care.
“Depending on the lens, the scope can provide up to 2,000X magnification, enough to see the parasites that cause malaria and other diseases.”
Check out Dr. Prakash’s TED Talk below, and then maybe reflect on just how powerful a tool paper truly can be.