Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium

THE SCIENCE TATTOO EMPORIUM IS MOVING!

2008-07-30T13:30:58-04:00

Starting today, the emporium has a new home at Discover Magazine. This blog will be shutting down soon, so change those RSS feeds now!

Thought Equation

2008-07-29T14:20:58-04:00

Jenny writes, This is my math-and-philosophy tattoo. The purple bit is the math symbol for "to define", used in proofs to set [variable on left] equal to [stuff on right]. The eye is both a rebus for "I" and a...

Dihydrogen monoxide

2008-07-29T14:20:26-04:00

Jerry writes, I was toying with the idea of getting some ink when I came across your Science Tattoo Emporium and was inspired! I've always loved water as an element of recreation in both the liquid and solid states. Enjoying...

The Mark of the Hunter

2008-07-29T14:19:47-04:00

Emily writes, I'm a physics major that's going into planetary science and I've always been in love with the planets and stars. I actually have two science tattoos. One is the astronomical symbol for Jupiter, my favorite planet, and one...

The Holy Grail of Computer Science

2008-07-29T14:19:35-04:00

Scott writes, I have my BS degree in Computer Science from East Carolina University, where I currently work as a software engineer. Here is a picture of my Computer Science tattoo. It is of the question P=NP. This unsolved equation...

Darwin Kong

2008-07-11T10:08:00-04:00

Chris writes, "I teach science at a public school in eastern Mass. This tattoo was taken from a New Yorker cartoon that my wife and I both have hanging in our classroom's (she teaches science, too). Most people think it's...

The Tattoo That Isn't

2008-07-10T22:04:00-04:00

Alex writes, "Twenty years ago I got this tattoo of the empty set. I've always thought it to be an interesting conundrum, as full of possibility as it is of nothingness."

LSD Redux

2008-07-09T04:51:00-04:00

An anonymous reader writes: D-lysergic acid diethlyamide...what a strange, wonderous, and downright amazing molecule. Having a background in biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology, I have long been fascinated by this enigmatic chemical. I initially planned on getting the regular simple...

Top Predators of the Past

2008-07-08T09:25:00-04:00

Wayne writes: The tattoo is a tribute to the past monsters of the deep, the top shark is meant to be Carcharodon megalodon, and the bottom is a Tylosaur Mosasaur. Mixed amongst the waves are Ammonites, based upon Kosmoceras Ammonites....

Levels of Consciousness

2008-07-07T05:23:00-04:00

Mike writes: The earth and brain are the nucleus of a neuron, whose apical dendrite is a double helix. Reversing the scales reminded me of universal principles that operate across different levels of organization– like diversity is important.

Old Four Lobes

2008-07-05T09:19:00-04:00

Vicki writes This coelacanth is on my abdomen. I've been fond of these rare, distant relatives for a while, and got this inked a couple of years ago.

Blue Stem

2008-07-04T09:00:00-04:00

Laura writes This is a tattoo of the prairie grass Andropogon gerardii, or big blue stem. My masters research involved land disturbance, mycorrhizae and soil properties associated with this & two other common prairie plants. Also notice that this tattoo...

Peace, Picks, and Dinosaurs

2008-07-03T09:00:00-04:00

Rebecca writes Attached is a picture of my science tattoo. It is a Marsh Pick, with a series of Pentaceratops vertebra, and a blue peace sign. I am a vertebrate paleontologist and geologist who works on ceratopsid dinosaurs. Since I...

Never Forget Your Inner Mathematician

2008-07-02T09:38:09-04:00

Robert writes, Hi Carl, I like your blog. It inspired me in some way to do the tattoo that I've been thinking of for several years :-) Here's an explanation: I have several reasons for choosing a sigma. The simple...

Macroscope

2008-06-30T06:01:00-04:00

Vincent, "a fledgling mathematician," writes: "This tattoo is of a microscope. 90% of the time when I show it to people they say 'Oh! a telescope!' I generally don't correct them, I just get a little uncomfortable and put my...

Cousins with tails

2008-06-29T22:04:00-04:00

Rich writes, "These are two species of primates that I had tattooed on my forearms. One is a tamarin monkey in honor of Paul Garber (who studies tamarin monkeys), the professor who started me off on the path to becoming...

Diatom

2008-06-28T21:58:00-04:00

Richard writes, "On my shoulder. Taken from an engraving by Ernest Haekel." Carl: Here's the Wikipedia page on diatoms, those abundant microscopic shell-builders of the sea. And here's a gallery of Haeckel's amazing illustrations--many tattoos in the making (and made,...

That About Covers It

2008-06-27T23:21:00-04:00

MLR writes: "The Tree of Life--carbon, glucose, light, DNA, and the golden rectangle. A tattoo by Kevin Riley. On the chest of a PhD student in molecular biology."

Catastrophe Math

2008-06-26T00:34:00-04:00

Angela writes, I got this tattoo about a year ago after finishing what turned out to be the magnum opus of my career (so far). Sadly, I am not a scientist, unless one considers sociology and economics to be true...

Galactic Bearings

2008-06-25T00:36:00-04:00

Michael writes, "This is a tattoo of how our galaxy could look from a distance, with our solar system's position marked by the red star burst. A map, if you will, so that I do not get lost. I need...