Foldscope - A Paper Microscope

[Oxytropidoceras]

Although this would be of limited usefulness to fossil hunters, it

might ultimately be an useful educational tool.

Foldscope: Microscopy for everyone - http://www.foldscope.com/

The web page states:

"Foldscope is an origami-based print-and-fold optical microscope

that can be assembled from a flat sheet of paper. Although it

costs less than a dollar in parts, it can provide over 2,000X

magnification with sub-micron resolution (800nm), weighs less

than two nickels (8.8 g), is small enough to fit in a pocket

(70 × 20 × 2 mm3), requires no external power, and can survive

being dropped from a 3-story building or stepped on by a person."

Yours,

Paul H.

[painshill]

Fascinating! The website doesn’t give too much detail about the optics, but it uses the principle of a tiny spherical lens held extremely close to the eye in the manner originally developed by the father of microscopy – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - in the 17^th Century.

As well as giving extremely high magnification, it has the advantage that the lens doesn’t need to be of the same high optical quality used in conventional microscopes – van Leeuwenhoek made his lenses by drawing a whisker of glass from a melted rod and then remelting the end of the whisker to create a tiny glass sphere.

The Foldscope uses glass spheres around the size of a poppy seed originally developed for use as industrial abrasive media. More sophisticated versions of the scope have multiple lenses and filters. It needs a light source too – achieved via a LED powered from a watch battery.

Edited April 25, 2014 by painshill