For Mehul Khakhkhar, a high school sophomore who lives near Chicago, the Palm Pilot handheld computer is much more than a personal organizer; it's a portable scientific instrument that can record pH, temperature and the oxygen content of the pond in his school's courtyard. Using a special adapter that snaps onto the bottom of the Pilot and a program that simulates an electronic notebook, Khakhkhar can take a series of measurements over several days and graph the changes. "It's actually more convenient than writing all the data down in a notebook with a pencil," says the honors biology student. "It's more fun."

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