Tag Archives: microscope

Revolutionary Fully 3D Printed Microscope Set to Make Waves in 2025

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3D Printed Microscope

Dr. Liam M. Rooney/University of Strathclyde

In early 2025, excitement surged within the research community with the release of a groundbreaking preprint paper detailing the world’s first fully 3D printed microscope. This innovative device was constructed in just hours and costs a fraction of traditional models.

Dr. Liam Rooney, a professor at the University of Glasgow, explained to New Scientist that the response to their revolutionary microscope has been overwhelming, attracting interest from biomedical researchers, community organizations, and even filmmakers. He stated, “The community response has been remarkable.” This significant research has been published in the Microscope Journal.

For the microscope’s body, the team employed designs from the Open Flexure project, a public resource for 3D printing scientific instruments. Utilizing a commercial camera and light source, they controlled the entire system using a Raspberry Pi computer.

The true innovation lies in the 3D-printed microscope lenses made from clear plastic, drastically reducing costs and enhancing accessibility. Traditional microscopes can cost thousands; in contrast, this new model can be assembled for less than £50.

“Since January, we have printed approximately 1,000 lenses in various shapes,” remarked team member Gail McConnell, from the University of Strathclyde.

Several companies producing commercial products that require optics have reached out to discuss potential collaborations, as affordable, lightweight 3D-printed lenses are still uncommon in large-scale production. The team has successfully used the microscope to analyze blood samples and tissue sections from mouse kidneys, validating its utility for medical and biological research.

The researchers aim to democratize access to microscopy, and they are making strides toward that goal. Collaboration with a lab at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana is underway to enhance microscope accessibility for researchers and students across West Africa. Additionally, they’ve secured funding from the UK Institute for Technology Strategy, and are involved in programs designed to upskill and empower students facing educational barriers.

Furthermore, the team has developed a new microscope course through the Strathclyde Light Microscopy Course, aimed at researchers of all experience levels and providing a unique educational opportunity in the UK. Rooney noted, “This is revolutionizing our teaching methods.”

Looking towards the future, there is substantial potential for further enhancements in 3D printed microscopes. The research team is working to improve resolution without raising costs and have found methods to enhance image contrast by 67%.

McConnell emphasized that the microscope’s design leverages consumer electronics and accessible 3D printing technologies, stating that the future advancements and capabilities are limited only by current 3D printing technology. “As these printers advance, so will our capabilities. The only bottleneck is technology, not creativity,” she explained. “We’re frequently contacted by individuals eager to see new designs.”

Source: www.newscientist.com

Revolutionary Fully 3D Printed Microscope Set to Launch in 2025

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3D Printed Microscope

3D Printed Microscope

Dr. Liam M. Rooney/University of Strathclyde

In early 2025, a groundbreaking paper revealed the world’s first fully 3D printed microscope, sparking significant enthusiasm among researchers. This innovative microscope can be constructed in just a few hours and costs significantly less than traditional models.

Dr. Liam Rooney, a professor at the University of Glasgow involved in this project, stated to New Scientist that coverage of the microscope has prompted outreach from biomedical researchers, community organizations, and filmmakers worldwide. “The community response has been amazing,” he noted. The research has been subsequently published in Microscope Journal.

His team utilized the OpenFlexure design, a publicly available resource for creating scientific instruments via 3D printing. Additionally, they incorporated a commercially available camera and light source, all controlled by a Raspberry Pi computer.

A major breakthrough was the 3D printing of microscope lenses using clear plastic, significantly reducing costs and making microscopy more accessible. While traditional microscopes can cost thousands, this new version is available for under £50.

Since January, the team has produced approximately 1,000 lenses in various shapes, according to Gail McConnell from the University of Strathclyde, UK.

Several companies manufacturing products requiring lenses have shown interest in the team’s research, as inexpensive, lightweight 3D-printed lenses are rare in large-scale production. They tested the microscope on blood samples and thin sections of mouse kidneys, confirming its potential utility in medical and biological research.

The team’s mission is to democratize access to microscopy. They are collaborating with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, aiming to enhance microscope accessibility for researchers and students in West Africa. They have also secured funding from the UK Institute for Technology Strategy and participate in initiatives that empower students facing educational barriers.

In addition, they have developed a new microscope course at the Strathclyde Light Microscopy Course, tailored for researchers of all experience levels. Mr. Rooney emphasized, “This is truly changing how we educate.”

Furthermore, researchers believe there’s ample opportunity for improvement. They are focused on enhancing resolution without adding costs, having already improved contrast by up to 67%.

McConnell remarked that because the microscope is designed for low-cost consumer electronics and accessible 3D printers, its future scalability is tied to advancements in 3D printing technology. “As these printers improve, so will we. The bottleneck isn’t imagination,” she explained. “We are continually receiving inquiries to develop new innovations.”

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  • 3D Printing/
  • 2025 News Review

Source: www.newscientist.com

Could the Competition Among Microscope Manufacturers Spark the Next Major Breakthrough?

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Feedback presents the latest updates in science and technology from new scientists, highlighting recent developments. Share items that may captivate readers by emailing Feedback@newscientist.com.

Get Ready…

Attention athletics fans, there’s an intriguing new competition to check out: Sperm Race.

It’s been reported that male birth rates are on the decline, with reduced sperm motility (movement speed) being a significant contributing factor. To raise awareness, a teenage founder has introduced sperm racing as a sport. As they say: “We’re creating the first racecourse for sperm: two competitors, two samples, one microscope finish line.”

Their site showcases “microscopic racetracks” that mimic reproductive systems, using “high-resolution cameras” to “track all microscopic movements.” They claim, “It’s all streamed live,” suggesting the phrase choice is deliberate, with the victor being “the first sperm to cross the finish line, confirmed via advanced imaging.”

The inaugural race on April 25th featured entries from two California universities. Readers may question why feedback on this topic emerged slowly. It’s due to a twist in the tale post-event.

Unfortunately for organizers, journalists like River Page, Reporter at Free Press, revealed that “the winner was predetermined. The ‘race’ was computer-generated.”

The issue is that microscopes can’t function that way. To have tracks long enough for sperm to swim competently, tracking them on camera is impractical. In film, a cameraman can follow Tom Cruise sprinting along the roof of a moving train. Yet, focusing a microscope can be challenging, even when the cells are nearly stationary.

The creators apparently ran a real race in a private setting, relying on computer-generated imagery to “depict” sperm racing for paying spectators.

This has led to speculation that a second round of the sperm race is improbable. I can’t help but recall how millions relish completely fabricated “sports entertainment” like wrestling, and outcomes in football often hinge on which teams have the wealthiest billionaires. Perhaps sperm racing could indeed be the next big sensation.

Water-Based Cooking

Feedback loves to explore the latest food trends, from cutting carbs to eating only lean meats, salt, and water! There’s even talk of “Air Protein,” which involves “microbial organisms that harness carbon dioxide.”

Just when I thought there couldn’t be more to discover, I stumbled upon “water-based cooking.” Given that living organisms are thought to be 60% water, my initial thought was that this might just be another way to say “cooking.” However, I later uncovered articles titled: “Food Trends and Science – Why Cooking in Water May Help Slow Aging.” and “What is Water-Based Cooking? And Why is it Healthier?”. It’s time to delve deeper.

Essentially, water-based cooking means utilizing water for cooking whenever possible, in favor of oil. Think boiling, stewing, or steaming over stir-frying or roasting. This method reduces the formation of harmful advanced glycation end products (AGEs) found in the crispy bits of fried foods known to be linked to health complications. Hence, water-based cooking enthusiasts should steer clear of those.

Driving this trend is Michelle Davenport, a UCSF and NYU-trained nutrition scientist and the former founder of Digital Children’s Food Company. She educates followers on Instagram on how to manage metabolic health through water-based cooking inspired by family recipes.

Read TikTok posts like: “You’ve switched to water-based cooking, and now your skin is clear, your digestion is thriving, and illness recovery is rapid.”

Feedback perceives this might revolve around minor details, but it fits perfectly within wellness culture: if you’re not in peak health, it’s certainly your choice. Regardless, we find ourselves empathetic toward Elle from Bruski, who aptly stated: “It’s just soup. They’re making soup.”

Pizza Insights

We sought examples of “obvious” scientific inquiries that tend to extend far beyond what one might have already guessed. The first query involved research indicating that an SUV poses a greater risk to pedestrians than a compact car.

In response, reader Roger Eldem shared a collection of findings that were decidedly unsurprising. One notable study, from Journal of Knee Surgery, led by Steven Defroda, published a paper stating: “NFL players sustain a higher incidence of knee extensor tears during brief periods of rest compared to normal intervals.” Alternatively, check a press release here. This essentially confirms that “NFL players are prone to knee injuries following shortened rest phases.” Well, yes.

Eldem’s second intriguing find came from research published in Nutrients, led by Iizuka. Its captivating title read: “The Type of Food, Not the Sequence, Influences Meal Duration, Chewing Frequency, and Pace.”

This study examines whether specific food types are consumed more quickly, potentially contributing to obesity later. A related article in MedicalXPress states: “Studies reveal that pizza is consumed more rapidly compared to meals that require chopsticks.” Clearly, food tasks can indeed be time-consuming.

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Send your stories to feedback at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. Past and current feedback can also be found on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com

I Highly Doubt the Existence of a “Nutrition Electron Microscope”

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Feedback is the latest science and technology news of new scientists, the sidelines of the latest science and technology news. You can email Feedback@newscientist.com to send items you believe readers can be fascinated by feedback.

A new kind of microscope?

Science is one of the most fruitful sources of new terms. There are conditions such as “mitochondrial integration” and “quantum fluctuations” and there is no way to make sentences reliable.

Recently, there have been various scientific papers that contain the phrase “.”Nutrition Electron Microscope/Microscope“The term suggests a device for scanning broccoli, but it is completely nonsense. There are scanning electron microscopes and tunneling electron microscopes, but there are no nutritional electron microscopes.

One possible explanation was proposed by Alexander Magazinov, a software engineer who illuminates Moonlight as a watchdog for Science Publishing. He pointed to Article from 1959 in Bacteriological reviewthe text was formatted into two columns. 4 To the bottom of the pagethe words “nutrition” and “electron microscope” appear next to each other in the left and right rows. Older papers are often scanned using optical character recognition, but such software can be a pain to deal with complex formats. “Nutritional electron microscope“According to the magazine, it is “artificial for text processing.”

But the journalist on Retraction Watch I discovered another possibilitythat was it Reddit has been flagged. In Falsi, the phrases “scanning electron microscope” and “nutritional electron microscope” are very similar, and, importantly, they use almost identical letters. The only difference is a single dot, nuqta. This means that small mistakes in translating paper from Persian to English are sufficient to create a “nutritional electron microscope.”

These explanations are not mutually exclusive, and feedback is satisfied that they can explain the appearance of this phrase. The bigger question is why it lasts in published research. Are these papers not strict? Peer reviews and checksto ensure high accuracy and therefore maintain the integrity of the scientific literature? Perhaps such “tortured phrases” should be included in the checklist of warning signs that the paper may be plagiarized or fraudulent.

Readers who encounter similar tortured phrases during their viewing of technical literature are invited to submit them to their regular address.

The nun is too far away

Sometimes feedback can receive stories that feel so good. The setup is so clean and the rewards are amazingly inevitable at the same time, so we doubt ourselves. Is the reality very beautiful? And we remember that the Titanic faction was the largest ship ever on that maiden voyage when it was built and when bad things happened. Sometimes reality is melodramatic. So, I believe this story happened as explained, but it may not be.

Come to us from Charlie Watnaby. The late Father John, Charlie Watnaby, was a curator at the Science Museum in London. It is inevitably related to the issue of Scunthorpe. The difficulty of banning offensive words in online discussions when strings of the same letters can appear in harmless words such as “peacock” or “sussex.”

John’s story is, technically speaking, not an example of Scunthorpe’s problem, but it definitely contiguous to it. As Charlie explains, “On the early days of the Computing Gallery, machines were set up so that the public could enter their own words and see them on the big screen.

This may seem like an invitation to misconduct. Therefore, readers will be pleased to know that staff expect an inevitable attempt to write a torrent of filth on a big screen so that everyone can see. They drew a “long list of blasphems,” all of which were blocked.

“Everything was going well,” says Charlie, until the system was defeated by the most dangerous person possible: the computer expert. While trying to use the machine, he realized that some keystrokes did nothing. “After investigating, he was able to pull up the entire list of offence (or offensive) words on the big screen so that everyone could see.

Feedback is prepared to believe in 90% of this story, but in the absence of independent verification, it draws a line to the nun. But we are willing to do wrong about this too. If the abbey schoolchild was at the science museum on that fateful day, and if you think you remember, contact us.

Yodel-eh-oh

Senior news editor Sophie Bushwick has turned his attention to a press release entitled “.Monkeys are the best in the world Yoderer – New Research.” It describes research examining the “special anatomy” of the throats of apes and monkeys, known as vocal membranes. These membranes allow for “the same rapid transition of frequency heard in alpine yodering” but “a much more praised range”, sometimes “over three musical octaves.”

After such accumulation, there was a breathless feedback accompanied by feedback and feedback was made to find it Audio Recording A tufted cappuchin monkey. We were hoping for the diffusive appeal that sparked. Music sounds Or the focus of the Dutch rock yodeler. What we got was “Skroark Rark Eek.” And now we understand why Sophie said, “I can’t stop laughing.”

However, if you look closely, you will notice the missed opportunities. Do not hesitate to show us the “yodering” of the tufted cappuchin. However, this study also included Howler Monkey.

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You can send stories to feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Include your home address. This week and past feedback can be found on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com