Blogs / The Loom

Andy writes:

This is all your fault, you know: a bike-riding forum I hang out on had a “check out these science tattoos!” thread, and it got me to thinking: what bicycle science tats are there?  I’d just celebrated my 25th year
in the saddle and was jonesing for some ink.

For ages I struggled to find something that abstracted the kinetics of bikes down to a couple of lines - with no success.

Then I found the power equation in MIT’s _Bicycling Science_ (and Wikipedia).  It describes the power needed to propel a bike against our everyday foes: gravity, weight, friction, wind resistance.  And it describes beautifully the way that the linear components of the resistance give over to the fat slamming wall of wind resistance.

So, of course, I got it tattooed on my calf.  

Thanks for the album.  The passion of nerds is just as intense as the passion of everyday folks, and it’s great to see more of ‘em out there.

Carl: We have crossed a threshold here at the Science Tattoo Emporium. People used to get tattoos, then find out about the Emporium. Now the reverse is happening. So let me take this moment to say that I take no blame if this emporium (and perhaps a glass or two of Frangelico) prompts anyone to get a science-related tattoo they regret the next day. Of course, if you like the results–send them here.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Andrew, a marine biologist writes, “I call it ‘the balance of the deep.’ Two hydrothermal vent endemic gastropods to commemorate my first deep-sea cruise. The one on the top is Alviniconcha hessleri and the one on the bottom is Ifremeria nautilei.”

Carl: For more on these cool critters–which live at the bottom of the sea around vents that spew scalding water, getting their food from chemical-feeding bacteria that live inside special organs in their bodies–check out Deep Sea News.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Julia writes, “6 years ago I decided to change my life and go back to uni to study medicine.  I decided that if I got through I was going to get a tattoo to celebrate – I wanted a tattoo that said something about me – about where I’d come from.  It took a long time to come up with the idea, but I came up with this – the neurone represents my medical degree, which synapses with my first academic passion - the biogeography of plants (so maybe I’m a bit of a freak).  To tie these together further, I chose plants that have medical (or at least pseudo-medical) uses – the dog violets can supposedly improve renal function (I want to be a nephrologist – many people think that makes me even more of a freak), and chamomile is known to have a calming effect (I thought it might help with all those stressful on-calls!).  Frankly, I chose the herb bennet because I thought it looked pretty!  I’d originally planned on having the neurone the other (right) way round, but my fantastic tattoo artist, Charlotte (she owns Venus Fly Trap in Edinburgh), thought it would look more root-like this way round, so I sacrificed some scientific accuracy for the sake of aesthetics.”

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Angela write: “As an Archaeologist, I wanted my first tattoo to be something related to culture. The Ouroborus is an ancient symbol of a serpent biting its tail and has been a part of a number of cultures and beliefs including (but not limited to!) Egyptian, Greek (who “borrowed” it from the Phoenicians and gave it the name “ouroborus” meaning “tail-eater”), Norse, Chinese, Aztec, Hindu, and various Native American Indian mythologies. The snake in my tattoo is a custom piece by my tattooist, but the writing is straight from the earliest-known drawing of the Ouroborus in the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra drawn around 1600BC. The Ouroborus has carried a number of meanings; the cyclical nature of the universe (the serpent eating its own tail to sustain itself), infinity and eternal unity (the text is translated as both “one is all” and “all is one” or even “the one, the all”), reincarnation, in Alchemy it is a purifying sigil, in Christianity it is a symbol of the confines of the physical world, and the serpent is often depicted with light and dark sides to it (i.e. yin and yang). In many myths, the serpent encircles the world - a myth that may have been inspired by those times of the year during which the Milky Way can be seen winding through the night sky, like a great snake. I chose this for my first tattoo because I have always been fascinated by cross-cultural symbols and one that encompassed so many meanings was particularly interesting to me.”

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Jenny writes: “I’m nearing the end of getting my undergrad in Zoology and I decided to do something to commemorate it. I like the simplicity of a Punnett square and I like that such complicated theories that make up Mendelian genetics can be illustrated in 6 lines and 12 letters. And since the letters are ambiguous I decided to go for ‘E’ for my last initial.”

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Thadd writes: “I got this archaeology themed tattoo today, somewhat inspired by your science tattoos.   It was inspired by a relief at Persepolis created under the Persian emperor Darius II.   It depicts a winged sun disk, likely showing the god Ahura Mazda, in this case, but was used as an icon for important deities in Assyria, Egypt, Judah, Urartu, and throughout most of the ancient Near East.”

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Philosopher Kate Devitt writes, “I started my undergraduate degree in the history and philosophy of science. For our second wedding anniversary, my beloved proposed getting matching shooting star tattoos to immortalize our first date under the night sky. The Halley’s comet design from the Bayeux tapestry was a perfect way to celebrate.”

Carl: The Bayeux Tapestry includes a picture of Halley’s comet (see below in the lower right corner). But its subject was not love, but the Norman Conquest, which just so happened to coincide with a visit from the comet.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Kim Handle, a science instructor at the New York Hall of Science writes: “Often laughed at here at the NY Hall of Science, it was delightful to stumble upon the Science Tattoos blog on the Loom.  Thank you!  Here’s my Pikaia, vertebrate fossil from the Burgess Shale.”

Carl: Here’s another Pikaia tattoo, and more information from the Smithsonian Instution on this early forerunner of fish (and us).

Jessica writes:

I’m happy to send you my very own science tattoo — a buckyball net. I’ve always been fascinated by carbon and its presence on our planet — but I didn’t want to choose an ordinary representation of carbon for my…uh…lifetime ink commitment. Behold the carbon 60 molecule, which just happens to fit my idea and look ridiculously cool, especially when “unfolded.”  I initially wanted the design to be small and discreet, but my tattoo artist thought it was such a cool design that he insisted I get it bigger. I’m happy I took his advice.

Carl: For  images of buckyballs in their folded state–lovely molecular cages–see here.

Stasia from Germany writes,

I made this tattoo when I was second year student in physics. Then I had just started my first scientific project and this simple but beautiful shape impressed me. Now I am a Ph.D student in chemical physics and this picture of hybridisation perfectly fits in the area of my scientific interests.

 

Carl: This is a diagram of pi orbitals (or p orbitals), a particular kind of room in which electrons live. For more, see here. And if you don’t like your pi orbitals tattooed, how about a towering sculpture?

Here’s a nice essay in Natural History about my science tattoo gallery. Expect plenty more new examples in weeks to come. And if you haven’t sent in yours yet, please do!

Today a comment arrived on the Loom that deserves a post of its own. It concerns a death of a reader of this blog.

But first, some background:

In April, a reader named Abigail sent in this tattoo, with the following description:

My first year of college, I wanted to be an English major, and I took Intro Chemistry to fill the science requirement. The brief unit on thermodynamics made me fall totally in love. Entropy made sense to me - scientifically, philosophically. I became a Chemistry major and love every second of it. I got the tattoo to mark my rite of passage - Entropy going both ways, with its symble delta-S in the middle, all supported in the roots of Yggdrasil, the world-tree of Norse mythology (harking back to my English-lit days).

Today, Abigail’s mother sent in this sad note:

Abigail is my daughter. I was with her when she got this tattoo last March, several months after she turned 18, while she was attending Reed College in Portland. It was an adventure for both of us. She came home for the summer in May, and four days later was in a fatal car accident.

I will be getting this same tattoo next week - Abigail’s personal design - from the same artist. It will memorialize both my daughter and her intellect and passion for science and philosophy.
The world has lost an incredible mind. Thank you Mr. Zimmer for displaying this artwork and sharing it with visitors to this site.

All great human passions have the same thing in common: a possibility to live on, in the minds of others after their original mind has passed. A tattoo is an outward sign of that inward connection. We will remember Abigail, and we will give her mother our deepest condolences. May Yggdrasil’s branches continue to grow within us all.