MicrobeScope: We Settle on Infusoria

Ebola virus is a scary thing. With all the desire you can’t see it in an ordinary microscope - the size of a dangerous infection does not exceed 80 nanometers. However, the microscope in this case is useless. Even if especially impressionable people of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will start using it as an amulet.

Nevertheless, the benefits in the invention of the Dutchman Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, anyway, but still there. And if you combine this device with modern devices — for example, a smartphone or tablet — you might end up with something like a MicrobeScope gadget that you successfully assembled on Kickstarter without $ 12,000,000. Note, out of the $ 10,000 that was originally requested.

It is hard to believe, but this very "microbial" was in our hands. The creators of the gadget were in such a hurry to deliver it to everyone who donated a lot of money to the project that you can see by the assembly - we are not in front of a serial copy, but a piece product: some joints are rather crudely processed, and the sealant around the objective lens collects fine dust. But this did not stop us: we simply could not refuse to test and review the device first in the post-Soviet space.
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His formula is simple: portable, you can even say, marching ... no, better - a tactical (sarcasm!) Device with a crazy 800-fold increase can be used independently, or it can be used in conjunction with smartphones or tablets.



MicrobeScope
Price: $ 115-135 (Kickstarter)

Magnification: 800x
Depth of field: 35 microns
Field of View: 190 microns
Batteries: 2x AAA

Using a microscope is so simple that there is not even a manual in the box. To begin with, we turn on the backlight (inside two AAA batteries feeding the LED), with the supplied micropipette, type the sample under test in a liquid state and drip directly onto the objective lens. All - you can observe the Brownian motion straight into the eyepiece, occasionally adjusting the ciliates with the tip of the same pipette.







And now we add technology. We take the cheapest smartphone (we have the iPhone 5S on hand), put it on a special stand, combine its camera with the eyepiece of the microscope and ... a wonderful picture opens! It becomes even more wonderful if you take a tablet. By the way, the latest generation of Apple devices are also convenient because they have the Slo-Mo mode, using which you can make too sharp microorganisms to move slowly and steadily.

Remembering the lessons of biology, you probably ask: what about all these glasses with drugs? We answer: no way! The creators maximally simplified the construction of a classic microscope.

Naturally, simplicity is associated with a number of limitations. So, the hair, hair of pets and pistils, stamens of plants will have to be pushed either with tweezers, or - what is there - right with your fingers. And since it’s not easy to make them fit snugly to a microscopic lens, then you still have to add a lot of agility and considerable patience to the research spirit.







However, a set of disposable glass slides is still there. So the red blood cells, if there is a suitable donor, you can still consider. But let us immediately warn you: without additional devices, it is quite difficult to do (in all senses).

Oddly enough, but 800 times is not always good. Fixed magnification will allow a detailed look at the hairs on the fly's foot, but will not be able to give an idea about the structure of her body.

By the way, one of the most common requests for developers on the project page is to recommend what you can see through MicrobeScope. And indeed, the consideration of live beer and no less live yogurt quickly bored. It may sound unappetizing, but they recommend to make a scraping from the inner surface of the cheek or remove plaque from the tooth. After that, it remains to dilute the “biosample” with water and observe the richest microflora, which is “always with you”. Another option that can completely replace swamp slush is water from a vase with long standing flowers.

Since the lens does not have any protection, on the one hand it should be protected from damage, and on the other hand, do not forget to wipe it thoroughly after use.

Finally, not every smartphone or tablet is suitable for working with MicrobeScope. The fourth-fifth "iPhones" and "iPads" ideally fall on the stand. But with devices whose main camera is located in the center, you may have to suffer.









In the market of microscopic equipment today you can hardly find anything - the same Yandex.Market offers more than two thousand options. But considering the size, magnification, ease of operation, as well as work with smartphones, tablets, we can safely say that this microscope has no analogues.

An indispensable tool for all lovers of microvayorism is currently available only to participants collecting money for the project. As we were told in MadRobots , which provided us with a test copy of MicrobeScope, the company is considering the possibility of selling the device through its own stores. Well, the president of 4D Optical Nick Brett, a secret told us that the mass production of the gadget can begin in the coming months.

PS Video illustration of the above - the video “MicrobeScope: how to see the Ebola virus on the iPhone?” On our YouTube channel Geek to the Future