http://www.ted.com/talks/manu_prakash_a ... ke_origami
The scope is actually an elaborate miracle of miniaturization. It's definitely not made entirely of paper. Actually there's an embedded LED and assorted lenses and filters. But all that is mounted in a paper framework and designed to be mass produced at very low cost.In this cool demo from TED Fellow Manu Prakash, meet a microscope made of paper that's easy to fold and use (and costs about 50 cents to make). These cheap, cutting-edge microscopes could help rural health clinics diagnose diseases faster -- and for students, it turns the world into a hands-on science experiment.
From 7:35 in the presentation:"We had to figure out a way to manufacture lenses in paper itself at really high throughputs. So it uses a process of self-assembly and surface tension to build achromatic lenses ..."
Slick stuff!
This was filmed in June 2012, but apparently it was just now posted on the TED site.
--Rik