Programmable pigments: Photochromic nanoparticle inks for rewritable tattoos

87 pointsposted 3 days ago
by Bluestein

66 Comments

dekhn

2 days ago

Years ago I wrote a short sci fi story where a guy invents and open sources a system like crispr (before crispr existed) and takes it to burning man and gives everybody gene therapy to make glowing cephalopod tattoos that can appear/disappear/change color/all the other things that cuttlefish can do.

The technology ends up being repurposed for all sorts of medicines/recreational purposes.

Only after it's released, it turns out it causes some fatal disease a year later, which is only noticed because Burning Man was empty next year.

landgenoot

3 days ago

So just fill your skin with this ink and use a laser to print any pattern.

Looking forward to see human ads

vasco

3 days ago

Plenty of monster drink tattoos around

RickJWagner

2 days ago

I’m older, with no tattoos. My oldest son has several.

I’ve noticed with some amusement that several celebrities ( and non-celebrities ) have publicly announced and explained their recent tattoo removals.

It reminds me of Dr. Seuss’s Sneetches.

causesothere

2 days ago

I think your smugness is unwarranted. Some people get tattoos on a lark, and grow out of their meanings and eventually remove them. Some people think long and hard about their tattoos and they become personally commissioned works of art.

I have two gorgeous sleeves with deep meaning, that I put hours and hours of pain in to. But they are for me. I love the art, I love carrying that art. I don't care about how they scan to others.

It has nothing to do with being cool or fitting in.

xgulfie

2 days ago

They weren't talking about you then

causesothere

2 days ago

They likened tattoos to sneetches -- people who adorn themselves to fit in. Most tattoo havers are similar to me, and this person seems to be making a broad generalization about most tattoo havers.

Retr0id

3 days ago

A cool concept, but regular daylight making it disappear again sounds pretty annoying.

everyday7732

2 days ago

It would be ideal for apply temporary make-up for a night out, I imagine.

rpaddock

2 days ago

Wonder if it would be possible, someday, to make Cellular Automata out of these? Then could have skin level dynamic images.

qwertytyyuu

3 days ago

That is so cool. I wonder if this allows for printing images with some kind of 3d printer like thing with a weak uv laser

Bluestein

3 days ago

Got me in mind of the people nowadays "renting space" across their body - this would be an ultimate form ...

MachineMan

2 days ago

Cephalopod camouflage in 3, 2, 1..

Xmd5a

2 days ago

Naked though

riffraff

2 days ago

This is awesome and I hope it catches on, but the idea of "may be useful to people who want to conceal tattoos in some situations" seems far fetched, some make-up layer would probably be a simpler solution, wouldn't it?

Karrot_Kream

2 days ago

Hot springs and baths in parts of Japan deny entry to anyone with tattoos

computerfriend

2 days ago

Usually a bandage will suffice to cover it. Even for very tattooed people, can be quite liberal with it.

thaumasiotes

2 days ago

> Even for very tattooed people, can be quite liberal with it.

Is this true for all heavily tattooed people, or are they more understanding if you're not Japanese?

computerfriend

2 days ago

In my anecdote, the tattooed person was Asian but non-Japanese. We did this several times, but of course it's still a small sample size, so take this with a pinch of salt.

duggan

2 days ago

Yeah, I guess now’s time to do the groundwork for building a tattoo empire in Japan.

Geste

2 days ago

No. I'm black, tatooed and found an onsen in Tokyo that accepted me without any issues whatsoever.

Karrot_Kream

2 days ago

I find that in the big cities (Tokyo, Osaka, etc) this isn't an issue anymore but it still is an issue in more rural parts of Japan. We were visiting friends in Akita prefecture recently and found fairly nice baths that did not accept tattooed folks.

pelagicAustral

2 days ago

Like literally any tattoo? or do you have to be fully blasted to get banned?

riffraff

2 days ago

depends on the bath, but they're generally understanding of foreigners with tattoos.

Robdel12

3 days ago

> These dyes are encapsulated in nanoparticles of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) — a medical-grade, glass-like plastic that is already used in medical implants and dermal fillers

Nano plastics? :p

Still pretty neat. I like the example picture in the article too

phyzome

3 days ago

Despite the limitations, that is dope as heck.

kreelman

3 days ago

I'll have to read up on this. I wonder about it as a kind of e-ink?

I'm sure there are a bunch of differences, but fun to think about perhaps.

user

2 days ago

[deleted]

flir

3 days ago

Regardless of the actual tech here, "he turned his tattoos off" has "the door dilated" vibes. Very cool.

jogu

3 days ago

This probably has some cool applications for magicians to do unique tricks where certain things appear on their skin.

xhkkffbf

2 days ago

Reminds me of that Ray Bradbury short story, "The Illustrated Man."

silicon3383

3 days ago

Does it turn the lymphedema off too?

ShinyLeftPad

3 days ago

is someone bored and going around hn front page editing all the titles. This is the second post i see in the last hour or so that was changed to a worse title.

tiku

3 days ago

Why not have e-ink in your skin..

filcuk

3 days ago

Because skin is not just loosely hanging on but is attached to the tissue below.

Razengan

3 days ago

An alternative to "customizable/dynamic fashion" like this would be tags/markers on people's clothes that are invisible to the naked eye but can be detected by AR glasses, making you appear to have different clothing, accessories, tattoos etc to people wearing those glasses.

But man none of the major company execs have a hint about any of the cool applications of AR sigh

chrisweekly

2 days ago

AR glasses are a scourge

Razengan

2 days ago

Because their implementation has been led by braindead suits.

Watch the anime Dennou Coil and see what they could be :)

causesothere

2 days ago

They will always be pervert glasses. They might also be cool non pervert glasses, but you cannot make them safe in a way that prevents them from being pervert glasses.

Razengan

2 days ago

No shit. Do you think computers and phone are never used for pervy shit?

pff boy

causesothere

2 days ago

There's a big difference between hidden spy cameras and trying to hide recording with a giant rectangle of a phone.

Razengan

2 days ago

Did you just spawn yesterday or somehow miss all the "sneak porn" that's been made with phone cameras EVEN BEFORE SMARTPHONES so much that places like Japan mandated a shutter sound effect?

AR glasses are hidden? And they have a recording indicator. What the hell are you on for real

Take a moment and try to understand before you construct such obviously loony statements.

causesothere

a day ago

I wonder what makes you so angry and tilted?

Do you have these glasses and it makes you upset that you are perceived as a perv? Do you work on perv glasses? It's very surprising to respond so strongly to white knight for an obviously creepy escalation of surveillance and recording technology.

Razengan

a day ago

I wonder what makes you so paranoid and loony?

that you can't even notice your own dumb comments echoed back at you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50044856

causesothere

5 hours ago

I've made you mad, sorry that calling them pervert glasses hurt your feelings.

Razengan

27 minutes ago

There you go imaging things again.

That padded cell you're in keeps you from hurting anyone as much as it keeps you from hurting yourself.

Here's a possible solution for your loony paranoia: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=burqa

self_awareness

3 days ago

Lol. Allow to violently perforate your skin with a set of sharp needles to permanently inject a pigment that can be hidden.

Just wear a baby skin sticker!

ragazzina

2 days ago

Most piercings fit your description.

self_awareness

2 days ago

Piercing is one big perforation.

Tatoo is a process of continuous small perforations sometimes for many hours.

accountrequired

3 days ago

Johnny Mnemonic meets Blade Runner vibe: A duo is assigned to hunt a network of data smugglers who use "toggle tattoos" to transport encrypted secrets with zero knowledge. Starring Jason Statham and Liam Neeson. Brought to you by Carl's Jr.

user

3 days ago

[deleted]

delichon

3 days ago

Hear me out, implanted lie detectors with displays tattooed into the foreheads of politicians.

amateurCoder5

3 days ago

Simpler to just use a normal tattoo that says "LIE".

kavalg

2 days ago

You guys are so funny :)

Bluestein

3 days ago

Insert *obligatory* "mouth is moving..." joke :)

sleepyguy

3 days ago

Your auto-immune system does not like ink.

yahthatsart

3 days ago

You don't have an "auto-immune system". Auto-immune means your immune system is attacking your own healthy cells.

Tattoos are fine. There's some evidence that maybe, maybe, immune system responses can be impacted by tattoos. But changes in immune system response does not necessarily mean impaired or negative.

pazimzadeh

3 days ago

kinda, but the system is not perfect.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_regulator

oversimplifying but in every person there are tradeoffs about attacking things inside yourself (viruses, cancer, etc) and outside things (parasites, bacteria, etc) and your genetics influences this. See the old Th1/Th2 balance

anyway it was probably a typo on his part, he's such a sleepy guy..

pestatije

2 days ago

how about allergies?...ive seen recent tatooees and that shit aint good man

causesothere

2 days ago

Some people have allergies to some inks. You definitely want to check with your artist and check what inks they use before getting a piece. There's still an outside shot that you'll end up with an allergy, which can be made worse with sun exposure.

It's a risk. A very small one. You gotta figure out your tolerance for risk.