Researchers have found a way to create a high-resolution microscope with pieces that anyone could have at home: the lens of an iPhone 5 and LEGO building blocks. So if you want to delve into that tiny world, now you can do so thanks to the instructions they have shared selflessly.
A microscope created with an iPhone 5
Mobile phone cameras have evolved dramatically in recent years and one example is the one included in the Oppo Finde X3 Pro. In this phone, one of its sensors is accompanied by an optics that allows it to function like a microscope. Something really striking because it allows us to see in great detail things that on a daily basis escape our sight.
Well, now a group of researchers in Germany have achieved something similar, but in a much cheaper way: a high-resolution microscope based on LEGO pieces and an iPhone 5.
Thanks to these elements that are very affordable and easy to obtain for the vast majority of users, a high resolution microscope can be created that will facilitate younger students to access a series of possibilities that toy microscopes do not offer and a way much cheaper than a professional one would cost.
As you can imagine, accessing an iPhone 5 (a phone that is eight years old) is not complicated or expensive. And in the same way, neither to the LEGO pieces necessary for the entire structure and mechanism. What’s more, in the case of not having any parts and you want to make your own microscope, you will only have to go to one of the stores that sell them loose in bulk. And it is worth seeing the results capable of obtaining.
How to create your own high resolution microscope
To create this high resolution microscope you will only need a mobile phone that you no longer use or that you would not mind giving up and some additional LEGO pieces. If you have this, you will only have to follow the instructions that these researchers responsible for the original project have made available to everyone.
You can find the paper at this link or through the GitHub page created for the LEGOMicroscope . Also, in that last link you will have the instructions translated into Spanish, in case you feel more comfortable than accessing the same document in English.
So you know, it could be an interesting project for the weekend or summer vacation, also for children to learn a lot about how the whole optical theme works, etc. But above all that they entertain themselves and do it themselves, although in some parts they surely need the help of an adult.
