Science tattoos

Discover has a huge gallery of science- and engineering-themed tattoos. Some are amazing and some are, well, less so. Above from left, RFID tag, quadratic formula, and LSD. "Science Tattoo Emporium" (Thanks, Marina Gorbis!)

UPDATE: This appears to be a photoset that author Carl Zimmer had uploaded to Flickr a while back but has since moved to the Discover site.

[#1 posted by h3llc4t , February 23, 2009 9:02 AM]

This is a repost from quite some time ago. I remember that my carbon atom tattoo was on the original incarnation of the Science Tattoo Emporium that Zimmer ran.

[#2 posted by Anonymous , February 23, 2009 9:26 AM]

My Arecibo Radio Message tattoo is in there! Heehee!

[#3 posted by dragonfrog , February 23, 2009 9:35 AM]

I have always been fond of tattoos that take their position on the body into account, rather than pretending it's just a funny-shaped canvas.

A friend of mine has tatooed on the back of his neck.

If you accept the programming side of Computing Science as a science, then this could qualify (and at any rate is hella cool).

[#4 posted by dragonfrog , February 23, 2009 10:42 AM]

Arrg. The preview showed the tatto text, and then the comment didn't.

The tattoo is <STDIO>

Blog code bug report: Putting HTML entities like &lt; where you want a literal < to appear in the comment, will fail if you preview your comment first - the &lt; gets converted to an < in the preview (as it should) but also in the text box that holds your comment text, so that when then click "POST", it gets posted as a literal less-than sign, and cleaned up as improper HTML.

[#5 posted by Ahoj , February 23, 2009 11:10 AM]

I've been debating whether to get a FET symbol on my wrist or a SQUID symbol for months.
If it happens it will be the drunken revelry after I am accepted to grad school and or pass the Qualifying exams.

[#6 posted by CarlZimmer , February 23, 2009 11:11 AM]

Yup, I moved the emporium to Discover a few months ago. But there are lots of new tattoos for old friends to check out. More to come, as well. Now scientists seem to be looking at these tattoos *before* they get tattoos of their own. The circle is completed...

[#7 posted by helenwhat , February 23, 2009 11:46 AM]

My tattoo's in there!
I signed up after years of passive reading just to say that! Yey!

[#8 posted by dbarak , February 23, 2009 12:07 PM]

Mine: A full-body, 1:1 scale of my integumentary system tattoo.

[#9 posted by ROSSINDETROIT , February 23, 2009 12:13 PM]

A FET symbol? All the cool kids are doing the Triac now.

[#10 posted by kiltreiser , February 23, 2009 12:25 PM]

My inspiration for my next tat came from that page, going to get four molecules circling my bicep - adrenaline, an endorphin, capsaicin and caffeine, all the necessary ingredients of life :-)

[#11 posted by Maneki Nico , February 23, 2009 12:50 PM]

What, no love for Magnus Pyke?

[#12 posted by Ahoj , February 23, 2009 1:47 PM]

My bad, I was thinking of the NPN, or PNP transistor. I was also thinking of having that put above a blue anarchy style A.

however, that may completely destroy my chances of getting a job, or government funding in the future.

still though, the SQUID is an awesome piece of electronics. it's what made me go back into physics.

[#13 posted by famous , February 23, 2009 2:03 PM]

Okay, it's true that the gallery was previously posted over at Flickr before it moved over to our site. [I'm the editor of DISCOVERmagazine.com.] But the Emporium has expanded dramatically since then, so it's worth another look-see.

In addition to the sheer expanded volume, the Emporium has also reached whole new levels since the old Flickr days:
- Science-themed ink making perfect romantic matches
- Tats inspiring readers to get new science tattoos of their own
- Science tattoo on a mother to memorialize her identically tattooed daughter who passed away

[#14 posted by rAMPANTiDIOCY , February 23, 2009 3:49 PM]

this is funny, on my way home from class I was trying to remember the quadratic formula.

Also, this reminds me, I need to get a delta-9 THC molecule on my calf.

[#15 posted by flwombat , February 23, 2009 4:09 PM]

I'm looking at the one in the middle and thinking "geez, she's gonna feel dumb when that turns out to be wrong!"

I was hoping for a science-tattoo version of hanzismatter.

[#16 posted by edrabbit , February 23, 2009 5:07 PM]

There's also http://www.geekytattoos.com
Science, video games, computer, and otherwise geeky tattoos.

[#17 posted by maxcelcat , February 23, 2009 6:06 PM]

He he, that's my leg on the left there!
Here's the story on my LJ.

[#18 posted by Tdawwg , February 24, 2009 10:16 AM]

So sweet. These remind me of my long-wished-for tattoo showing the various stemma of the Documentary Hypothesis....

[#19 posted by Antinous / Moderator , February 24, 2009 6:18 PM]

Dragonfrog,

We know. You have to go back and then submit.

[#20 posted by Maitha Abdulla , February 25, 2009 8:08 AM]

cutttee

i love tattoos

I wish to get one... but am not allowed to do that :(