Google has launched a new Android app to help people perform scientific experiments that they describe as a digital "lab notebook".
Science Journal measures data using both inbuilt sensors inside phones – such as accelerometers, light sensors and more – and external sensors available to buy on Google's Making & Science website. "You can use the sensors in your phone or connect to external sensors to conduct experiments on the world around you," Google says. You can also organise your experiments into projects, as well as "make predicions, take notes and collect data in multiple trials, then annotate and explore your results."
Projects suggested by Google include measuring running speeds over the course of a week or measuring the movement of homemade wind spinners.
To test out the app, WIRED asked several staff members to scream as loudly as they could inside a cupboard. The 'experiment', which used the app's sound recording ability, was designed to find out who had the loudest scream.
Results ranged from 80 dB to 83 dB per scream, though Google suggests using a number of different volumes – ranging from whispers, whistles and clapping to stomping and screams – to test the app's measurement capabilities. Experiments can be viewed in real time on both meters and graph screens.
Google plans to open source the app by the end of the summer. Results of experiments can also be watched on Making & Science's YouTube channel.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
