The last thing you expect to see while walking to work in the trendy Flatiron District of New York City is a multi-colored, solar-powered bus from the 70s parked in front of a Club Monaco.
But this isn't just any ordinary bus.
Its insides are tricked out with $100,000-worth of microscopes and laboratory equipment, with scientists and school teachers scanning large monitors beaming magnified images of crustaceans — a hidden biology oasis.
The so-called BioBus is a mobile research lab and an educational tool. On this particular weekday in November, the scientists and high school teachers aboard had one mission: to identify the tiny creatures floating around the East River using their DNA.
BioBus is the brainchild of Ben Dubin-Thaler, a biologist who envisioned the idea after finishing his PhD from Columbia University.
He theorized that performing hands-on, live experiments would foster excitement about science.
And what better way to engender excitement than to bring a fully functional biology lab to classrooms and instructors throughout New York City.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider