Science Tattoos

A recent posting in the blog Making Light points to a Flickr photoset of science tattoos.

Remember the Simpsons episode titled Homer Goes to College?

Benjamin (one of Homer’s nerd roomates): Come on, Mr. Simpson, you’ll never pass this course without learning the periodic table.

Homer: I’ll write it on my hand.

Benjamin: Hoh! Including all known lanthanides & actinides? Good luck!

Well, the guy in the photo below may not have written it on his hand, but he has managed to get the complete periodic table of the elements — and yes, complete with all known lanthanides and actinides (those are the two extra rows below the main table) — on his forearm, and permanently to boot!

Click the photo to see it on its original Flickr page.
Found via Making Light.

I’m more of a physics and math guy than a chemistry guy, so these tats appeal to me a little more:

Click the photo to see it on its original Flickr page.
Found via Making Light.

And finally, the time dilation equation:

Click the photo to see it on its original Flickr page.
Found via Making Light.

The gist of this formula says that time slows down as you go faster. The slowing down doesn’t become really noticeable until you hit about one-tenth the speed of light; a 1970s experiment with two jets, each with its atomic clock, has provided empirical evidence.

Many science people I know — myself included — like to take scientific laws and weave them into our own personal philosophies. The owner of the time dilation formula is no exception:

The time dilation formula is over my heart and represents my personal belief in life: the faster you go, the more you get to see and the more you get to live. Maximum intensity and maximum velocity at all times for maximum lifetime experience per life.

In the words of Captain Picard: “Maximum warp! Engage!”