CHIMPU, Oct 31: A ‘Foldscope outreach workshop’ was conducted at the Donyi Polo Academy for the Hearing & Visually Impaired here on Thursday.
The workshop was organised by Indo-US Foldscope project awardees – SCERT lecturer Mudang Omo and State Horticulture Research & Development Institute scientist Siyang Borang – to provide the students with equal opportunities in learning about the latest happenings in the world of science and technology.
The students were taught ways to assemble and use a Foldscope. A Foldscope, also known as a paper microscope, is an optical microscope that can be assembled from simple components, such as perforated sheets of paper and a lens.
Designed to cost less than 1 US dollar to build, the Foldscope was developed by a team led by Dr Manu Prakash, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the Stanford University, USA.
The magnification power of the Foldscope is enough to enable spotting microorganisms, ranging from multi-cellular organisms like nematodes and tardigrades, and uni-cellular organisms like amoeba and bacterium, besides human cells like cheek cells, red blood cells, muscle cells, etc. It can also view malarial parasites.
The goal of the project is not only to make microscopes affordable to those who would not otherwise have access to them, but also to advance the general study of science.
