Prakash Lab at Stanford
@prakashlab.bsky.social
Curiosity Driven Science
Success. Nearly 259 Foldscope deployed in hands of unsuspecting candy crazy kids. Halloween is always more colorful with the microscopes - specially in a few weeks they could look at the micro-fauna of the teeth with so much sugar consumption.
November 1, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Success. Nearly 259 Foldscope deployed in hands of unsuspecting candy crazy kids. Halloween is always more colorful with the microscopes - specially in a few weeks they could look at the micro-fauna of the teeth with so much sugar consumption.
“Cellular Olympics” our catalog of freeky ultra fast cellular superhero’s is freely available “Ann Rev of microbiology”
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
This is a compilation of world’s fastest single cell organisms - enjoy this buffet of rare delightful protists with mind bending speeds. 🧪
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
This is a compilation of world’s fastest single cell organisms - enjoy this buffet of rare delightful protists with mind bending speeds. 🧪
October 24, 2025 at 10:57 AM
“Cellular Olympics” our catalog of freeky ultra fast cellular superhero’s is freely available “Ann Rev of microbiology”
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
This is a compilation of world’s fastest single cell organisms - enjoy this buffet of rare delightful protists with mind bending speeds. 🧪
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
This is a compilation of world’s fastest single cell organisms - enjoy this buffet of rare delightful protists with mind bending speeds. 🧪
Worried about microplastics around you. We are excited about utilization of our low cost Raman microscopy tools in identifying microplastic pollution - from human body to California beaches to deep ocean.
Read the story here:
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Read the story here:
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 1, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Worried about microplastics around you. We are excited about utilization of our low cost Raman microscopy tools in identifying microplastic pollution - from human body to California beaches to deep ocean.
Read the story here:
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Read the story here:
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A fantastic walk into the land of ideas - and now we have a new PhD in the house - congratulations Dr Grace Zhong. That was a spectacular defense covering everything from biophysics to neuroscience to symbiosis and actin-driven motility. So proud of this wonderful moment!
September 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
A fantastic walk into the land of ideas - and now we have a new PhD in the house - congratulations Dr Grace Zhong. That was a spectacular defense covering everything from biophysics to neuroscience to symbiosis and actin-driven motility. So proud of this wonderful moment!
New Dr. in the house.. Dr Ethan Li. 🎉🎉👏🏽 What a remarkable journey anchored in open science. Half a dozen open hardware projects ranging from global health (Octopi malaria diagnostics), ecological monitoring (Planktoscope, ESPressoscope), medical devices (Pufferfish) & more. So many scaling insights.
August 30, 2025 at 4:46 AM
New Dr. in the house.. Dr Ethan Li. 🎉🎉👏🏽 What a remarkable journey anchored in open science. Half a dozen open hardware projects ranging from global health (Octopi malaria diagnostics), ecological monitoring (Planktoscope, ESPressoscope), medical devices (Pufferfish) & more. So many scaling insights.
Stories make us human. An office view like this inspires many - I have been jotting them down non stop - hope to have the time one day to share them.
July 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Stories make us human. An office view like this inspires many - I have been jotting them down non stop - hope to have the time one day to share them.
And today we are treated with a sunset of a life time. I have never seen pallet of nature shine so bright in the sky - if you were to paint this, you would run out of colors. With lab members Enrico and Hannah. Well deserved break in our grueling schedule to see the big picture of why we are here. 🌊
July 19, 2025 at 4:14 AM
And today we are treated with a sunset of a life time. I have never seen pallet of nature shine so bright in the sky - if you were to paint this, you would run out of colors. With lab members Enrico and Hannah. Well deserved break in our grueling schedule to see the big picture of why we are here. 🌊
You can spend a life time on a boat - and still be looking at new things every single day! Here is a quick glimpse of what’s just under our feet/boat!!
July 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
You can spend a life time on a boat - and still be looking at new things every single day! Here is a quick glimpse of what’s just under our feet/boat!!
Somewhere in Atlantic - and sea is like glass for last few days. We are out here measuring carbon flux & how ocean removes all of that carbon. Microbes don’t work for us; so unless we understand the processes - we don’t know where tipping points are. Thankful to @NSF for supporting basic science.
July 13, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Somewhere in Atlantic - and sea is like glass for last few days. We are out here measuring carbon flux & how ocean removes all of that carbon. Microbes don’t work for us; so unless we understand the processes - we don’t know where tipping points are. Thankful to @NSF for supporting basic science.
Just returned back to land after an incredible expedition with Alex/Hannah/Enrico from lab - again in California Currents - joint with Ann Dekas lab. We tested a new carbon sequestration idea & mapped inhabitants of deep dark ocean & more. Filled with magical (read science) experiences. Thread soon.
April 22, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Just returned back to land after an incredible expedition with Alex/Hannah/Enrico from lab - again in California Currents - joint with Ann Dekas lab. We tested a new carbon sequestration idea & mapped inhabitants of deep dark ocean & more. Filled with magical (read science) experiences. Thread soon.
(1/n) Excited to announce FrugalScience 2025 (www.frugalscience.org). In its 5th year - Frugal science is a global community of creators engaged in bringing affordable solutions to the world. Anyone around the world can sign up (for free): form here docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
April 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
(1/n) Excited to announce FrugalScience 2025 (www.frugalscience.org). In its 5th year - Frugal science is a global community of creators engaged in bringing affordable solutions to the world. Anyone around the world can sign up (for free): form here docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
This is what we ate for breakfast 😂
March 30, 2025 at 4:16 PM
This is what we ate for breakfast 😂
And beautiful, at the same time. It’s a privilege to see it in its most calm and the most ferocious form. Just the scale is what gets me every time! Hard to explain intuitively how much water you are surrounded by - when in the middle of it all.
December 23, 2024 at 11:58 PM
And beautiful, at the same time. It’s a privilege to see it in its most calm and the most ferocious form. Just the scale is what gets me every time! Hard to explain intuitively how much water you are surrounded by - when in the middle of it all.
What if plate tectonics had something to do with development? We found a new framework for dynamic origami in tissue folding in a nerveless animal. Will share thread; but if you are at #cellbio2024, see @cbrannon.bsky.social poster B399 today.
Not at ASCB; read www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Not at ASCB; read www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 17, 2024 at 4:38 PM
What if plate tectonics had something to do with development? We found a new framework for dynamic origami in tissue folding in a nerveless animal. Will share thread; but if you are at #cellbio2024, see @cbrannon.bsky.social poster B399 today.
Not at ASCB; read www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Not at ASCB; read www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Want to hear about “biophysical limits” of cellular motility & general scaling law we discovered for ultrafast motility. Or see strangest protist on planet - head to @raychang612.bsky.social poster B266 at #cellbio2024 today
Not at ASCB - preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread soon.
Not at ASCB - preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread soon.
December 17, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Want to hear about “biophysical limits” of cellular motility & general scaling law we discovered for ultrafast motility. Or see strangest protist on planet - head to @raychang612.bsky.social poster B266 at #cellbio2024 today
Not at ASCB - preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread soon.
Not at ASCB - preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread soon.
Coming to #CellBio24 this year? Posters/Talks/Booths from our lab. Grace, Ray(2), Charlotte, Jiju, Qing are presenting posters, Charlotte, Qing, Ray & Manu giving short talks. Hongquan & Jim/Hannah/Brian/Ken at Cephla & Foldscope booths respectively. Lots of surprises 😱 in store if you find us.
December 15, 2024 at 1:33 PM
Coming to #CellBio24 this year? Posters/Talks/Booths from our lab. Grace, Ray(2), Charlotte, Jiju, Qing are presenting posters, Charlotte, Qing, Ray & Manu giving short talks. Hongquan & Jim/Hannah/Brian/Ken at Cephla & Foldscope booths respectively. Lots of surprises 😱 in store if you find us.
S. Hariraj, 8 years, assembles his foldscope. "The Foldscope taught me that the world we see around us can be very different than what we assume," he says. "It's like having a third eye." Photo by Viraj Nayer for NPR. Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
December 8, 2024 at 6:58 PM
S. Hariraj, 8 years, assembles his foldscope. "The Foldscope taught me that the world we see around us can be very different than what we assume," he says. "It's like having a third eye." Photo by Viraj Nayer for NPR. Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
A long awaited visit to @isglobalorg.bsky.social community. Had an incredible time with planning of several partnerships. As is obvious in the name - ISGLOBAL - most of challenges humanity faces are Global - organizations that bring us together are critical for future of society at large.
December 5, 2024 at 10:44 AM
A long awaited visit to @isglobalorg.bsky.social community. Had an incredible time with planning of several partnerships. As is obvious in the name - ISGLOBAL - most of challenges humanity faces are Global - organizations that bring us together are critical for future of society at large.
My favorite NPR story blog - “Goats and Soda” sent a writer and photographer to a rural school in India; an early adopter of Foldscope. A wonderful photo story of kids “reading nature”. In this current challenging climate - the kids show us the way with joy and wonder.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
November 24, 2024 at 4:55 PM
My favorite NPR story blog - “Goats and Soda” sent a writer and photographer to a rural school in India; an early adopter of Foldscope. A wonderful photo story of kids “reading nature”. In this current challenging climate - the kids show us the way with joy and wonder.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Oceanographer: Let’s strap the cup to a CTD Rosette and plunge it to the depths of the ocean, to see how small it gets.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Oceanographer: Let’s strap the cup to a CTD Rosette and plunge it to the depths of the ocean, to see how small it gets.
November 23, 2024 at 11:24 PM
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Oceanographer: Let’s strap the cup to a CTD Rosette and plunge it to the depths of the ocean, to see how small it gets.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Oceanographer: Let’s strap the cup to a CTD Rosette and plunge it to the depths of the ocean, to see how small it gets.
Loving all the cool 🆒 puns - keep them coming. We have a tradition in lab to draw a doodle for every group meeting - usually by Rebecca Konte (a resident artist in my lab for last 10 years). Here is the doodle of from last year group meeting as “ice skating diatoms” @abelaer.bsky.social #protistsky
November 22, 2024 at 9:01 AM
Loving all the cool 🆒 puns - keep them coming. We have a tradition in lab to draw a doodle for every group meeting - usually by Rebecca Konte (a resident artist in my lab for last 10 years). Here is the doodle of from last year group meeting as “ice skating diatoms” @abelaer.bsky.social #protistsky
Our latest discovery of “lowest recorded temperature for eukaryotic cell motility” going all the way down to -15deg C. Come for the crazy cold Arctic & stay for diatoms. Will write longer thread - but enjoy video below of diatoms gliding on frozen ice surfaces. Congrats @zqing.bsky.social & team.
November 21, 2024 at 10:36 AM
Our latest discovery of “lowest recorded temperature for eukaryotic cell motility” going all the way down to -15deg C. Come for the crazy cold Arctic & stay for diatoms. Will write longer thread - but enjoy video below of diatoms gliding on frozen ice surfaces. Congrats @zqing.bsky.social & team.
Can you find Waldo? Where Waldo is a deadly parasite. See linked thread for context!
November 17, 2024 at 9:19 PM
Can you find Waldo? Where Waldo is a deadly parasite. See linked thread for context!
Latest manuscript with field validation and usability studies coming online soon.
Best part of online scientific community has been the “spontaneous” connections in communities. If you work in global health/value microscopy, we would love to chat. What can we build together. @cephlainc.bsky.social
Best part of online scientific community has been the “spontaneous” connections in communities. If you work in global health/value microscopy, we would love to chat. What can we build together. @cephlainc.bsky.social
November 17, 2024 at 9:17 PM
Latest manuscript with field validation and usability studies coming online soon.
Best part of online scientific community has been the “spontaneous” connections in communities. If you work in global health/value microscopy, we would love to chat. What can we build together. @cephlainc.bsky.social
Best part of online scientific community has been the “spontaneous” connections in communities. If you work in global health/value microscopy, we would love to chat. What can we build together. @cephlainc.bsky.social
A student from Sudan “Marwan” once told me an ancient Sudanese saying: “Never create a pen that does not eradicate ignorance and shame”.. AI is that pen 🖊️
After 13 years of working on malaria - we are ready to scale real time ML based malaria diagnostics operational in the field. #octopi #Senegal
After 13 years of working on malaria - we are ready to scale real time ML based malaria diagnostics operational in the field. #octopi #Senegal
November 17, 2024 at 9:17 PM