Dynamic tattoos promise to warn wearers of health threats | Hacker News Reader

Dynamic tattoos promise to warn wearers of health threats

theconversation.com

29 pointsafrcnc19 comments

"Warning: dangerous tattoo detected"

Implanting active technology can be dangerous. A lot of the people who got magnets in their fingertips had problems down the line. I wouldn't want to be the first to try the beta version.

So long as the health threats involve UV exposure, so far.

But hey, I'm all for continued research in this area!

Tangent: Y'all should check out the book mentioned at the start: The Diamond Age. It's perhaps my favorite fiction book... It does one of the key parts of sci-fi right: Interesting, resasonable speculation on future tech.

If I can get a tattoo that I can write different pictures to I would love that!

E-ink tattoo

>My lab is also working on invisible UV-protective tattoos that would absorb UV light penetrating through the skin, like a long-lasting sunscreen just below the surface.

Ummm... I think evolution had already figured this out. It's called melanin.

Not everyone has enough

It would be a long-lasting sunscreen. Our bodies don't produce sunscreen.

Like I said, our bodies do produce sunscreen, it’s called melanin, and it’s more effective at converting UV radiation to heat than anything humans came up with.

Yes, I read what you said and I understood what you meant the first time. To be clear, I and the article mean artificial sunscreen. Melanin does not offer enough protection hence why we have sunscreen we can apply on our skin.

Can you give a source for your statement that it's more effective than anything else we can come up with? Sounds like an interesting study.

“ The cosmetic industry claims that the UV filter acts as an "artificial melanin". But those artificial substances used in sunscreens do not efficiently dissipate the energy of the UV photon as heat. Instead these substances have a very long excited state lifetime.[15] In fact, the substances used in sunscreens are often used as photosensitizers in chemical reactions. (see Benzophenone).”

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

Thanks for the source, I looked at some of the studies and it seems like you were correct but there appears to be a small catch. There seems to be a difference between physical blockers such as TiO2 and ZnO, which basically reflect the UV rays and UV-absorbers like mentioned in your link which convert the rays to heat. Sunscreen usually contains both components. Interesting stuff though, I thought sunscreen was mostly a solved problem but you and your reference as well as some other references made me rethink that idea.

Why you no have tattoo?

I don't want tattoos. Personally I don't like the way they look. The ones I see on people my age (mid-20s) look like they've gone into the artist and said "just blast me" and it can be difficult to pick out elements. To me they can end up looking like a blotchy mess that were got just for the sake of being covered.

There are some tattoos I like, generally well-detailed ones with enough space around them that they can be appreciated. For example, I quite like sleeves that were built up over time with lots of different themes and elements as opposed to sleeves that were designed as one design and done in a short space of time.

I have nothing against people with tattoos nor do I treat them differently, I'm 100% for bodily-autonomy and believe you should be allowed to do whatever you want to your own body, I just wouldn't get one on my own body.

Because they're unprofessional and I have no reason to want one. Like anything else, they have risk (potential infection, chemicals in inks), and I would derive no benefit from having one.

Why would anyone be expected to, anyway?

> they're unprofessional

In what way are tattoos related to professionalism?

I think they probably mean "they're taboo, which can sometimes be construed as unprofessional".

Tattoos don't stop you from acting professionally but let's not pretend that a presidential candidate could have a face / neck tattoo that wouldn't dominate the news cycles and activate the purity police.

Perhaps this is not the case in your nation, but here in America, they are most certainly not professional. I don't set the standards, but I wish to operate in a professional setting, so I abide by them. There's also the fact that they're inextricably linked with crime and prisons, and I would never wish to be seen as associated with such things.

Isn't the Antichrist supposed to unify the world first? I’ll take a few devout Christians disappearing on a cloud over the current state of things.

(Identifying marks on skin that people willingly accept are one of their prophecies, in some sect’s interpretations. Everything intertwined with an embodiment of God returning to Earth and teleporting them to a cloud and riding off to heaven, beginning a period of time where their same benevolent God allows his machinations to wreak havoc on the Earth and everyone else for the lulz.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com