Ideas worth spreading

Lifesaving scientific tools made of paper

1,513,869 views | Manu Prakash • TED2017

Inventor Manu Prakash turns everyday materials into powerful scientific devices, from paper microscopes to a clever new mosquito tracker. From the TED Fellows stage, he demos Paperfuge, a hand-powered centrifuge inspired by a spinning toy that costs 20 cents to make and can do the work of a $1,000 machine, no electricity required.

Inventor Manu Prakash turns everyday materials into powerful scientific devices, from paper microscopes to a clever new mosquito tracker. From the TED Fellows stage, he demos Paperfuge, a hand-powered centrifuge inspired by a spinning toy that costs 20 cents to make and can do the work of a $1,000 machine, no electricity required.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Abuzz, a citizen-based mosquito monitoring system.

Experience the curiosity and excitement of scientific exploration with Foldscope, an ultra-low cost microscope made from common materials.

About the speaker

Manu Prakash

Physicist, inventor

See speaker profile

TED Fellow Manu Prakash is on a mission to bring radical new technology to global health.

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Abuzz, a citizen-based mosquito monitoring system.

Experience the curiosity and excitement of scientific exploration with Foldscope, an ultra-low cost microscope made from common materials.