50 Useful iPhone Apps for Science Students & Teachers

As you know, technology and science have come a long way. Machines, innovations, and tools that were once nothing more than far-fetched ideas are now available at the iPhone owner’s fingertips. For scientists, iPhone applicationss make research, exploration, studying, and visualization easier and less expensive than ever before. So, follow these links and turn your iPhone into your sciPhone .

Apps for Your Field

Whether you’re in genetics, anatomy, nursing, physics, or chemistry, there’s an iPhone application just for you. Here are some of the best.

1. Genetic Decoder: Allows user input RNA codons and outputs amino acid information.
2. iCut DNA: iCut DNA lets you search the Restriction Enzyme Database (REBASE) for enzymes and the DNA nucleotide sequences they cleave.
3. Anatomy Lab: Explore the anatomy of the human body as if you were a dissector in an anatomy laboratory.
4. Anatomy Pronunciations: Accurate pronunciations of over 700 commonly used anatomy terms.
5. Skeleton 3D: Featuring a sharp skeletal model, it makes a great learning tool to help children identify human bones, as well as other aspects of the human anatomy.
6. ePocrates Rx: The Epocrates Rx free drug reference enables healthcare professionals to find medical information more quickly and confidently at the point of care.
7. Collisions: The Collisions1D app is a basic physics lab, in which two objects (a red ball and a blue ball) collide with one another in one dimension. You can set the mass of each of the objects, the initial velocity of each object, as well as the elasticity of the collisions between the objects.
8. iPhysics Updates: Physics majors will love this new application for your iPhone. The world of physics is ever changing, and as modern advances in technology and science arise, advances in physics go hand in hand. Keep up with all of the new discoveries, news stories, and theories on your iPhone.
9. ChemFacts!: ChemFacts puts hundreds of Chemistry facts at your fingertips.
10. Chemistry Terms: Chemistry Terms is a fully-featured flash card app that helps you learn over 100 chemistry terms.

Reference

These tools are great for the times when you aren’t carrying your encyclopedia with you. Who does that, anyway?

11. Molecules: Download and view 3-D molecules
12. Chemical Elements: In portrait mode, this application lists the elements, but flip it landscape and it turns into an touchable periodic table.
13. Landscapedia: Calling all botanists! The plant labels at garden centers don’t give you nearly enough information to know what you need to know for your research. Landscapedia provides full information for 34,000 plants.
14. A Brief History of Genetics: This application is a movable timeline that features the biggest dates and names in the history of genetic biology.
15. Atom in a Box: This application shows what a hydrogen atom "looks like" via real-time rendering of its electron’s orbitals.
16. Get all the Science: This news aggregator collects from Nature, New Scientist and several other science publications and delivers it to your phone.
17. Food Information Database: This database puts the power of health and fitness into your hands by gathering nutritional info from hundreds of restaurant chains.
18. PopSci Reader: This is a great way to catch up on PopSci.com while you’re away from your computer. It provides full text and images, and it’s free.
19. WeatherBug: WeatherBug manages and operates its own weather network that pin points weather conditions in your neighborhood. And by "neighborhood," we don’t mean "city." We mean at the local school, in the grocery store parking lot, or across the street.
20. MIM by MIMvista: MIM Vista allows doctors to view medical imaging on the go with their iPhones. Users can also draw on the image; simply shake your phone to clear the notes.

Space/Astronomy Apps

For the aerospace engineer, or just the universe-loving stargazer.

21. Uranus: This GPS-enabled app acts as a guide to the night sky wherever you happen to be standing on Earth.
22. 3D Space: All the pictures used by 3D Space are the newest pictures photographed by Hubble Space Telescope
23. iSky Gaze: This simple web app lets you input what you want to see, say, Mars, and spits out optimal viewing information.
24. LookUp: Tells you when to look out for satellites in the night sky.
25. NASA Image of the Day: Your eyes will only take you so far into space, so if you want to see deeper, check out this simple daily image app.
26. Starmap Pro.: Discover the power of a professional sky atlas in the palm of your hand.
27. Astronomy: Need some fast facts about our solar system? You’ve got it now! Astronomy Guide is the perfect reference source for finding planets, stars, constellations, and even the history of space travel.
28. Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy: Readers will find a galaxy of informative, vividly written entries on everything from space exploration and the equipment involved, to astrophysics, cosmology, and the concept of time.
29. Pocket Universe: Pocket Universe is the ideal astronomy program for those keen to learn about the night sky. The unique display is generated dynamically depending on your location and time.
30. GoSkyWatch Planetarium: GoSkyWatch Planetarium is a neat little iPhone app that helps you locate and identify planets in the sky.

Calculators

While quick math and mental calculations are honorable skills, the times are changing, and your job doesn’t have to be as hard as it once was.

31. Equivalence: Designed from the ground up by engineers and for engineers, Equivalence makes your tedious, day-to-day conversions between unit systems a breeze.
32. Scoligauge: This scoliometer is a diagnostic tool that determines the angle of trunk rotation for a patient.
33. Atomic Mass Calculator: The Atomic Mass Calculator is an interactive calculator using the periodic table as its key pad. Press the elements to form any molecule you can dream up and see what the atomic mass for that molecule.
34. chemCal: chemCal is a basic chemistry concentration (molarity, moles per liter) and dilutions calculator for students of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and biomedical sciences.
35. Buffers: Buffers is a scientific tool for designing buffer solutions for pH control.
36. Powergraph: PowerGraph is not just a powerful graphing calculator, but it also has a robust calculator full of functions. You can also customize the background and colors.
37. ChemWeight: ChemWeight is a high-quality molecular weight calculator.
38. Conversion Calculator(RPN): This calculator uses Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), to produce conversions.
39. Astrolabe: This is an easy to use calculator for manipulating astronomical distances, dates & times, and coordinates.
40. Scientific Calculator: This full-blown scientific calculator includes formula entry in the form of f(x) and z. This calculator renders formulas in 2D and 3D (if Z is included in the equation).

Games and Quizzes

While these "games" might not be everyone’s idea of fun, the true scientist will appreciate and enjoy these interesting apps.

41. Science Hangman: Test your knowledge about science: chemistry, biology, zoology, astronomy, technology, anatomy and lots more.
42. The History of Science Quiz : Who Discovered Ganymede? The good thing is you’re ahead of the game if you even know what Ganymede is.
43. Science Quiz: Each of these quizzes consists of 10 multiple choice questions, with a final score provided at the end.
44. iMole Draw: The IMoleDraw is an application that can view, edit and build molecules in 2D.
45. Netter’s Neuroscience Flash Cards: Quiz yourself over 225 individual illustrations taken directly from Netter’s Atlas of Human Neuroscience. By the time you get them all right, you’ll be ready for your Ph.D!
46. Head and Neck Quiz: Test your knowledge of the human head and neck.
47. ChemQuizr: How well do you know the periodic table? Practice learning with this app and you won’t ever need a cheat sheet on a test again.
48. Gravity Balls: This is a Physics based application that simulates the effects of Newton’s Law of Gravity on objects called Gravity Balls.
49. MassSpring: MassSpring takes place in your phone’s physics lab, where a block is attached to an ideal spring. You can set the mass of the block, the spring constant of the spring, and the initial position of the block.
50. Speed Bones MD: How fast can you point to specific bones? Speed Bones MD is a fun an addictive game that tests your speed and challenges your memory.