The OpenFlexure Microscope is an open-source 3D-printed microscope, based off a precise flexure translation stage. If you’re making them in bulk and without the high-res parts, the per-unit price is probably below $100. If you’re just putting together one, the price will probably come to more like $200 and you’ll find yourself with a lot […]
$2 microfluidic pumps made of latex balloons and stockings
Generally, microfluidic systems require an external pump system to operate. Self-sufficient microfluidic systems are microfluidic systems that have all the components they need on the microfluidic device itself. This is a key concept in lab on a chip designs (the devices from whence this website puns its name). A paper from Peter Thurgood, Sergio Suarez, […]
A qPCR device for $300
A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), is a modification to normal PCR where one monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR. We’ve written before about our favorite cheap solutions for PCR, but check out this interesting paper on building your own quantitative-PCR (qPCR) machine written by Geoffrey Mulberry, […]
A bicycle inner tube under a breadboard can be sufficient to isolate building vibrations
In many cases equipment is set up on vibration dampened tables. In microscopy, these optical tables, in the shape of a giant metal floating breadboard are ubiquitous, and expensive. These optical tables cost several thousand dollars from the cheapest suppliers. However, if microscopes are not mechanically isolated, oscillations attenuate the quality of images. There’s an […]
Bristlebots on the Cheap: Easy-to-Build Active Particles
Bristlebots are simple active particles powered by the vibration of a simple vibrating motor. Their intuitive construction and short list of components make them ideal for demonstrations of basic scientific concepts like friction or flocking behaviors. Here’s a tip from Rémi Boros on how to make simple bristlebots for classroom and for outreach at the […]