Full Coverage: Links From All Over (Feb. 17, 2009)


[The Dieline] Surprisingly enough, this is not, in fact, some ass-backwards marketing campaign by foolish opponents of tattoos. No, instead, this is part of an art project by CCA student JuliAnn Miller, who, when given an assignment to design some sort of material for a political or social cause, she chose tattoos, and thus, the “Tattoo Tester” was born.

“This Tattoo Tester is a kit that comes with certain papers so that the user can create custom temporary tattoos (transfer paper and carbon paper). The kit also includes a brochure with information on tattoo statistics and a brief history of tattooing.”

The box is made from light cardboard and all printed material is printed on recycled kraft paper. All typography is in various weights of Myriad Pro.

The statistics are largely based on a poll that supposedly mentioned that most Americans who regret their tattoos do so based on the design and location choice, which, um, why else would someone regret a tattoo, really? At any rate, it’s a pretty slick looking project, and any effort to get people to give healthy consideration to tattoo work before getting it done is probably a step in the right direction.

[Gawker] So apparently there is some person named Peaches Geldof, whose father was Bob Geldof, and she is famous for, I don’t know, existing? Celebrity culture is just swell. Anyway, she was on a beach somewhere and lo and behold, she’s all tattooed! In the real world, this would mean she is a regular 19-year-old girl, but your common gossip vultures had a field day dissecting her tattoos, including the usually respectable-ish Ryan Tate:

– Doves = LOVE. Not to be confused with marrying a dude to his green card.

– Playing cards = good luck. Like being born to the right person.

[…]

– Unicorn eating chain of daisies = ???. WTF, because everything else about Peaches is deep and meaningful, you know?

[…]

– “An open book with a bizarre hangman’s noose hanging over the page” = to symbolize Peaches being “owned” by a metaphor-challenged ex.

Well, that was annoying. You criticize someone for being famous for being famous, and then you proceed to … give them the media coverage you’re criticizing them for craving? Hooray! Everybody wins/loses/dies, the end.

[CrunchGear] Oh what’s this, tattoos that people won’t regret or be made fun of for? What a concept! Some eggheads at the Draper Laboratory in socialist Cambridge, Massachusetts, have developed tattoo ink that will “change colors based on a person’s blood sugar levels,” which is an obvious benefit to people with Diabetes, or people who like to brag about their blood sugar levels.

The nano ink particles are tiny, squishy spheres about 120 nanometers across. Inside the sphere are three parts: the glucose detecting molecule, a color-changing dye, and another molecule that mimics glucose. When the particles are dissolved in water they look like food coloring, says Clark.

The three parts continuously move around the inside the hydrophobic orb. When they approach the surface, the glucose detecting molecule either grabs a molecule of glucose or the mimicking molecule.

If the molecules mostly latch onto glucose, the ink appears yellow. If glucose levels are low, the molecule latches onto the glucose mimic, turning the ink purple. A healthy level of glucose has a “funny orangey,” color, according to Clark. The sampling process repeats itself every few milliseconds.

This sort of immediate access to one’s blood sugar levels would be a major leap forward, although as with any technology, questions regarding the accuracy and reliability of such an invention have already arisen. Lab mice seem to be responding well to the initial experiments, however, and at this rate, it sounds like a human version may be ready within two years. Science, everybody!

36 thoughts on “Full Coverage: Links From All Over (Feb. 17, 2009)

  1. woah color changing tattoos now the difficulty is finding a tatoo that looks good yellow purple and weird orangey might i suggest a butterfly lol

  2. woah color changing tattoos now the difficulty is finding a tatoo that looks good yellow purple and weird orangey might i suggest a butterfly lol

  3. This is why I continue to love my tattoos more as the years go by. Most certainly annoying when you have people acting like its okay to judge peoples ink without actually knowing the story. Celebrity culture, you disgust me.

    At the end of the day, I suppose its more free publicity for the Geldof family.

  4. This is why I continue to love my tattoos more as the years go by. Most certainly annoying when you have people acting like its okay to judge peoples ink without actually knowing the story. Celebrity culture, you disgust me.

    At the end of the day, I suppose its more free publicity for the Geldof family.

  5. I am tremendously interested in the Tattoo Tester. There are a few tattoos that I’ve been considering, but I’m really on the fence about them, and I’d absolutely love to try them out as temporaries first to see how I really feel. [And I’m reluctant to try henna because… well, it has a completely different texture, consistency, and color than tattoo ink. I don’t feel like it’d be an accurate enough representation for me.]

    How would I go about getting one of those? I don’t see anything mentioning ordering…

    The color-changing glucose level tattoo ink is a really neat concept, too. I have a friend who’s borderline diabetic, and something like that would be really beneficial to him and the many other people with diabetes. This is great!

  6. I am tremendously interested in the Tattoo Tester. There are a few tattoos that I’ve been considering, but I’m really on the fence about them, and I’d absolutely love to try them out as temporaries first to see how I really feel. [And I’m reluctant to try henna because… well, it has a completely different texture, consistency, and color than tattoo ink. I don’t feel like it’d be an accurate enough representation for me.]

    How would I go about getting one of those? I don’t see anything mentioning ordering…

    The color-changing glucose level tattoo ink is a really neat concept, too. I have a friend who’s borderline diabetic, and something like that would be really beneficial to him and the many other people with diabetes. This is great!

  7. the tattoo tester is actually quite a novel idea, where would i be able to aqquire carbon paper and transfer paper? would it be best to look online?

  8. the tattoo tester is actually quite a novel idea, where would i be able to aqquire carbon paper and transfer paper? would it be best to look online?

  9. i just wanna point out, as the only person in the world who seems to like her, that Peaches Geldof does do some journalism, radio DJing and other stuff.
    but she’s not as cool as her dad.

    that tattoo kit is such a cool idea!

  10. i just wanna point out, as the only person in the world who seems to like her, that Peaches Geldof does do some journalism, radio DJing and other stuff.
    but she’s not as cool as her dad.

    that tattoo kit is such a cool idea!

  11. I just want to point out that Peaches Geldof simply stands near people who do some journalism, radio DJing and other stuff and absorbs their accomplishments through osmosis.

  12. I just want to point out that Peaches Geldof simply stands near people who do some journalism, radio DJing and other stuff and absorbs their accomplishments through osmosis.

  13. Both the tattoo tester and the glucose sensor sound great. The article says there’s about a 20 minute lag behind blood glucose levels but maybe that could be improved by putting them somewhere the skin is well-vascularized. Also, I wonder how long they’ve been maintained in the mouse model.

  14. Both the tattoo tester and the glucose sensor sound great. The article says there’s about a 20 minute lag behind blood glucose levels but maybe that could be improved by putting them somewhere the skin is well-vascularized. Also, I wonder how long they’ve been maintained in the mouse model.

  15. Hell, I’d like some of that sugar ink stuff, it would be so sweet to have color changing parts on a piece.

  16. Hell, I’d like some of that sugar ink stuff, it would be so sweet to have color changing parts on a piece.

  17. I wonder what it would do in the long term..
    But its a neat idea.. I know blood sugar fluctuates.. mine has been as low as 2.0 and as high as 10.0.. (my friend gave me a tester, with fresh needles)
    but I think its a good idea… and really fun! if it works.. I wouldn’t agree to test it, but after its approved, I’d be into it!

  18. I wonder what it would do in the long term..
    But its a neat idea.. I know blood sugar fluctuates.. mine has been as low as 2.0 and as high as 10.0.. (my friend gave me a tester, with fresh needles)
    but I think its a good idea… and really fun! if it works.. I wouldn’t agree to test it, but after its approved, I’d be into it!

  19. I’d love to get a colour changing tattoo. Hope you don’t have to be a diabetic to be able to get one once hey get available. I wonder what other factors can be used to make the colour of a tattoo change. Would be fun to have a tattoo that changes colour according to your mood.

    Oh, and that tester looks great!

  20. I’d love to get a colour changing tattoo. Hope you don’t have to be a diabetic to be able to get one once hey get available. I wonder what other factors can be used to make the colour of a tattoo change. Would be fun to have a tattoo that changes colour according to your mood.

    Oh, and that tester looks great!

  21. The colour changing ink would be amazing…my husband has Type 1 diabetes and is already covered in tattoos…he’d be so excited about having one that enabled him to check his sugar less often.

    And he could never lie to me and tell me it’s fine anymore hahahah

  22. The colour changing ink would be amazing…my husband has Type 1 diabetes and is already covered in tattoos…he’d be so excited about having one that enabled him to check his sugar less often.

    And he could never lie to me and tell me it’s fine anymore hahahah

  23. Diabetics rejoice! my co-piercer is diabetic and will be thrilled by this product!

  24. Diabetics rejoice! my co-piercer is diabetic and will be thrilled by this product!

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