Google's 'Science Journal' App Turns Your Smartphone Into a Laboratory

— -- Google's new Science Journal app is turning Android smartphones into pocket-sized scientific powerhouses, allowing users to conduct a variety of experiments using tools already built into the device.

Geared toward parents and children, the free app guides users through the scientific process, from brainstorming and designing a project to gathering data and displaying it visually in a way young scientists can understand.

Aside from being an organizational tool for ideas, the app is able to gather data using the various features, such as a microphone and an accelerometer, which can measure the speed of a movement and is already built into smartphones.

"You can use the sensors in your phone or connect to external sensors to conduct experiments on the world around you," the app description says. "Organize your ideas into projects, make predictions, take notes and collect data in multiple trials, then annotate and explore your results. It's the lab notebook you always have with you."

The app works on Android devices running KitKat or newer versions of the operating system. While the app is packed with basic scientific utility, Google is also working with San Francisco's Exploratorium to create external science kits with additional materials, such as inexpensive sensors and craft supplies, that can be used in tandem with the app to measure motion, speed, magnetism, temperature, altitude and more.