“I just have to say I love that you’re compiling all these science tattoos. Ever since I got mine I was wondering what other science tats were out there.

So, in undergrad I did independent research on the aquatic ecology of tardigrades in the Great Smoky Mountains. I discovered three new species to science and this is tattoo is to represent how much I enjoyed that research. Also, I think tardigrades are one of the coolest organisms on earth – they’re practically indestructible! Thanks again for getting all of these together.”–Kristal

Continue reading “Water Bear (Tardigrade)” →

“Some history: My name is Skye, and I am a Chemist by trade, but in my spare time I am an stargazer and amateur astronomer.”

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Originally published February 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

“It is an approximation of the locus of connectedness for the Julia sets of the family of functions f(z) = z^2 + lambda/(z^2) (rotated by pi/2). This is analogous to the standard Mandelbrot set (which applies to the family f(z) = z^2 + c), but holds additional fascination because for lambda values which are in the interior of one of the subdomains of the connectedness locus, the Julia set is a Universal Curve. To me this represents the structure unifying chaos (since Julia sets are chaotic) and order (since Universal Curves act as a sort of catalog of all planar curves).” –Aaron

Continue reading “The Julia Set” →

“It’s great to see that there are other uber-nerds out there! I am a microbiologist so my obvious choice was a microscope. This one is an antique from 1893, and it is along the left side of my spine.” –Jillian

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Originally published February 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

“Just wanted to jump on the bandwagon with my own tribute to my scientific style. This is a tattoo of the word for Body, Spirit, Person.People, and Life in Owens Valley Paiute, written in International Phonetic Alphabet. I am a Linguist that specializes in Endangered languages and thought i needed this tagged on me.”–Russ

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published February 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.