Observed arrival · 2026-11-08
Edwin Hwu’s consumer-electronics lab hacks
Associate Professor Edwin Hwu documents research that turns consumer electronics into low-cost scientific instruments, alongside work measuring skin nanotexture.
○Open
⊠Login
$Paid
†Ads
✦Pretty
●Pro
◎Niche
◉Human
⚑Risk
ƒJS
- For
- Researchers, lab educators, citizen scientists
- Worth noticing
- The skin research uses tape strips and an atomic force microscope to study corneocyte nanotexture, including in atopic dermatitis.
Field notes
The page describes optical pickups from CD, DVD and Blu-ray drives as components for low-cost atomic force microscopes, and also mentions instruments built with piezo buzzers. Its skin research uses tape strips to examine corneocyte nanotexture, with the Effective Corneocyte Topographical Index and deep learning used to count circular nanoscale features. Selected papers, lab videos and playlists provide routes into the work.
Observed signals
Read the marks
Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
○OpenPublic substance visible
✦PrettyNotable craft visible
●ProPolished or operationally mature
◎NicheUnusually specific use
One card from the complete issue