Tag: Lego

Fluid-filled Devices Created and Inspired by Legos

There are tools used for manipulating tiny amounts of liquid, known as microfluidic devices. Typically these devices are used to stimulate human blood cells or other biological features, perform blood tests, or even detect contaminants in human blood. Microfluidic devices  are used by the biomedical field as it allows many medical tests to be accomplished on a single chip. Microfluidic devices can also be used for drug screening, glucose tests and many other purposes.

Microfluidic Device. Image Source: By National Institute of Standards and Technology, via Wikimedia Commons

However, fabricating these microfluidic devices is not easy. It requires a different configuration of interior passages, demanding a brand new design that must be molded or 3-D printed each time. In a recent report by the Journal of Micromechanics & Microengineering states that “Scientists from the University of California, Irvine have created Lego-style blocks out of a polymer called PDMS. Their bricks contained minuscule channels, half a millimeter wide, that allowed liquid to flow from brick to brick with no leaks. New devices could be created quickly by rearranging standard blocks into various configurations.”

This new technology makes it easier for scientists to create these microfluidic devices more quickly and ready for use! Check out the Tweet below from Science News to see what the fluid-ferrying Lego devices look like!

Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/construction-tiny-fluid-filled-devices-inspired-legos?tgt=nr

LEGO’s New Toys Celebrate STEM & Women in Science

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Good news for lovers of tiny, plastic science – female LEGO researchers will hit shelves this August. On Wednesday, the company announced a new collection titled “Research Institute,” an all-female line with characters pursuing three distinct fields: astronomy, paleontology and chemistry.

The project came about after Swedish geochemist Ellen Kooijman submitted it to Lego Ideas, a fan-based incubator that allows the Lego community to vote on potential collections. After earning the required 10,000 votes, “Research Institute” went on to be selected by the Lego board — beating popular franchises such as Sherlock, Adventure Time, Back to the Future and The Legend of Zelda.

The new set is a result of the LEGO Ideas project, which allows users to create and upload their own toy concepts. People then vote on the ideas and the winner is turned into a real product, as Geekosystem reports.

Previous winners have included a Mars Curiosity Rover and a DeLorien from Back to the Future, but we’re not sure that they’re as awesome as the winner of this Winter 2014 Review – which includes a female paleontologist, astronomer and chemist, AND a dinosaur skeleton.

The set will be titled the LEGO Research Institute and the idea was initially submitted by Alatariel Elensar, who wrote, “The motto of these scientists is clear: explore the world and beyond!”

LEGO joins the ranks alongside other toy makers that are realizing the importance of STEM & the growing need for women in science. Check out our archived blog post on Goldiblocks, a company reaching millions of little girls via their innovative engineering kits.

Fewer than 3 out of 10 graduates in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields are women. And barely 1 in 10 actual engineers are women. Early in a girl’s life, the toys marketed to her are usually things that don’t encourage her to enter those fields. 

In a world where men largely outnumber women in science, technology, engineering and math… and girls lose interest in these subjects as early as age 8. Toys that are geared toward STEM, such as the new LEGO & GoldieBlox are determined to change the equation. These toys develop an early interest in these subjects, but for over a hundred years, they’ve been considered “boys toys”. 

We can’t help but get excited to see toy companies & manufactures truly inspiring a whole new generation of future scientists!