The diversity and breadth of Foldscope’s initial users wasn’t by accident: when Stanford University engineer Manu Prakash and his research students manufactured the first version of the microscope in ...

Discoveries involving a lab accident, venomous snails and a scientific instrument made from paper are some of the obscure, quirky or convoluted advances honored Wednesday with awards that celebrate ...

When you want to get a closer look at things and can’t afford a full-blown microscope, why not make your own out of paper? The Foldscope is a paper microscope designed by Manu Prakash, PhD, of the ...

Sometimes, inventors come up with things the world wants. The Rubik’s Cube. iPhones. Snuggies. Then there are the things the world needs. The wheel. Penicillin. Anything with caffeine in it. The ...

It took about six months for the jungle to kill Aaron Pomerantz’s microscope. An entomologist without a microscope is like an astronomer without a telescope, so Pomerantz needed a replacement. Ideally ...

Manu Prakash is the co-inventor of the Foldscope, a low-cost microscope aimed at making scientific tools available for everyone. We chat with him about why he wants to change how we think about ...

Eight-year-old S. Hariraj is a Foldscope devotee. He's used it to look at the milk from the cows his parents raise. Though the milk looks creamy, the Foldscope reveals a world of microorganisms. "It ...