Environmental Analysis Goes Mobile

Soil, paper, and a smartphone—could this be all farmers need in the future to perform environmental analyses? Quite possibly, thanks to the efforts of IBM researchers in Brazil. They’ve developed a research prototype, the AgroPad—a portable water and soil testing device powered by AI. When water or soil is placed on the microfluidics chip inside the card, it performs an on-the-spot chemical analysis of the sample, providing results in less than 10 seconds. A set of circles on the back of the card provide colorimetric test results; the color of each circle represents the amount of a particular chemical in the sample. With a dedicated mobile app, a farmer (or any user) can take a snapshot of the AgroPad and immediately receive a chemical test result. Real-time, on-site chemical analysis could be a game changer, as the traditional process of shipping samples to labs is often both time-consuming and cost-prohibitive. In the future, as the paper-based tests can be reliably performed by non-experts and instantly digitized, they could have the power to help revolutionize digital agriculture and environmental testing as we know it.

Explore the potential of mobile chemical analysis ->

6 years ago

One Mississippi. Happy Leap Second 2015! 

9 years ago

The Science Behind…
the Share Globe

Our Play Machine takes globetrotting to a whole new level – one powered by play and robotic motors. Every share is pulled from the Twitter API or from Tumblr, which starts the globe a-spinnin’. Meanwhile, the longitude and latitude from a sharer’s location is sent to the globe’s arduino microcontroller to figure out where the 2mm laser should point – which if actual Earth size would be quite a ray, spanning a 28 mile radius. A command is sent to the motor controller in G-code and voila! (look, a share from France!), the world sees your location on the globe and the spinning LED fan!

Show us where you’re playing with a Share now →
(best viewed on desktop + tablet)

10 years ago

What the Fractal?
Forecasting trouble ahead

Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions. Nature’s big troublemakers are often outsmarted by the tiny fractal math formulas that help us minimize their destruction. By understanding fractal order and scale, scientists can forecast the size, location and timing of natural disasters, so we can better prepare for their arrival. Now, if only they could help us prepare for holiday credit card bills.

11 years ago