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Popsci_2014 00014.txt

#The Brilliant Ten: Manu Prakash Brings Science To The Masses Rather than starting with off-the-shelf components Prakash lets the problem guide the design. For example when he set out to build a diagnostic microscope for health workers he knew it would have to be rugged cheap and easily produced. Faced with these constraints Prakash developed a pocket-size paper#microscope that is powerful enough to#detect a malaria parasite in a drop of blood yet costs just 50 cents.##Prakash s newest device inspired by a music box leverages punch cards and a hand crank to carry out complex chemical analyses. Changing the holes on the cards determines which chemicals will be released when. Prakash envisions scientists using the apparatus to test soil chemistry or detect different kinds of snake venom but it could be modified to run almost any kind of assay. re going to make them very widely available and let other people build their own apps on top he says.##Prakash s inventions may be designed to address complicated problems but their low cost and simple designs make them accessible to everyone. Scientific tools have been built and designed and kept in the silos of universities Prakash says. He wants to bring them to the masses. This article originally appeared in the#October 2014 issue#of#Popular Science. Click#here#to read about the#other#Brilliant Ten#honorees of 2014.#

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