By Kristen Philipkoski Oct 11, 2011 6:40 PM 7,946
14
Caltech engineers built an ingenious Petri dish from Lego blocks that uses a cell phone image sensor and a smartphone light to send pictures of what's happening inside the dish directly to scientists' laptops.
Here's how it works (see it in action above): Scientists place a sample on an image-sensor chip, which uses an Android phone's LED screen as a light source. They then place the whole device in an incubator and connect the chip to a laptop with a cable. Software on the laptop organizes the images.
It sounds so simple and looks like a toy. But it could significantly (and inexpensively!) streamline cell culture experiments (which means any cells, from bacteria to stem cells, grown in a controlled environment) in several ways:
1. Because the device sends images directly to a laptop, scientists don't have to move the cells they're studying to look at them under a microscope, which means less chance of contaminating the sample.
2. Scientists can observe many samples at once, rather than checking out one at a time under a microscope.
3. The image sensor snaps hundreds of pictures of the cells growing in real time. Then they're stitched together on the laptop, creating a high resolution image. So researchers get see the big picture of what's happening in the dish, rather than focusing on a tiny part with a microscope.
The scientists say number three will be particularly interesting for studying stem cells, which move around a lot and transform into various types of cells. And they report that the resolution is similar to a traditional microscope-you can make out the inside of cell nuclei.
The CalTech researcher published details on the prototype in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Technology Review via BoingBoing; Image: Guoan Zheng, California Institute of Technology]
You can keep up with our Science Editor, Kristen Philipkoski, on Twitter, Facebook, and occasionally Google+ Related Stories
View the original article here
This post was made using the
Auto Blogging Software from
WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
This ad by Qualcomm is more impressive and less gross than I thought it would be—it uses bugs on miniature circus equipment to charge an Android phone with a Snapdragon processor. I'm guessing it's an attempt to show off how low-powered the Snapdragon processor can be? Whatever, complex bugs are cool. [Bug Circus Generator via Laughing Squid]
Infomercials, Start Your Copywriting! "Text Neck" is apparently a thing now, and anyone with a smartphone and a sore neck will be ripe for the picking this holiday season!
The grouse of many people with Android phones, that they all are same after they are switched on can be resolved with this phone. As HTC Sensation with its Android features have crowned itself at the helm. HTC Sensation along with recently launched smartphones is giving iPhones a run for its money having out-of-the-box features.