GADGET WATCH | Object Inspector in Your Pocket Protector
Chris Chou wants you to put your microscope where no microscope has gone before: in your pocket. Chou is the inventor of the microscope pen, a portable, lightweight, but durable microscope that fits easily into a shirt or pants pocket and comes with a convenient pen clip to keep it there.
Measuring 0.75 x 5.5 inches and weighing in at a mere two ounces, the microscope pen provides all-glass optics, 100x magnification, and a 1.5-mm field of view. Chou says he wanted to produce an instrument that would allow a researcher to view specimens in the field instead of having to take them back to the lab. "I decided to make something for when you want to look at detail right away," Chou explains. The device's Web site (www.MicroscopePen.com) suggests applications ranging from insect observation and plant study to microcircuitry inspection ...
