Content warning: Human alteration and scalpels.
General warning: We are not speaking as doctors. Or lawyers.
If you watch sci-fi, you probably do not have to think hard to conjure a scene in a trendy bar where the patrons have glowing make-up or tattoos. That bit of futuristic flair was possible years ago with UV-reactive tattoo ink, but it has the unfortunate tendency to permanently fade faster than traditional ink. [Miana], a biohacker, wanted something that could last forever and glow on its own. After months of research and testing, she presents a technique with a silica-coated powder and scarification. Reddit post with graphic content.
The manufacturer does not sell the powder for internal use, so it requires sterilization in an autoclave, which should tell you why this is a hack and not just repurposing. The experimentation includes various scarification techniques and different bandaging approaches, but this is still a small group, and the oldest is measured in months, not years, as of the time of writing.
We think these look amazing, but there are significant caveats. If you have never done scarification, spoiler, it hurts! If the flesh cutting is not bad enough, someone gets to rub sand into the open cuts. You may find yourself carrying a UV flashlight everywhere to charge it up. [Miana] was kind enough to provide the link to the powder she uses, but this link is provided solely so our readers can investigate the ingredients.
If you are more interested in the glowing aspect than the biohacking part, be sure to read about making strontium aluminate. If you want to get into the weeds, you can make a phosphorescence detector and quantify how glow-y something is.
ah. I feel 8 again with all those warnings. I’ve missed it. maybe start every blog post with these things. you never know and don’t forget, in the USA, sueing is like breathing…
But to get on topic again, i think tattoos are a thing, not my thing, but they are quite popular. Ithink this technique is quite rudimentary and leaves a lot of scars. if thats your thing, fine. but I dont think this is a topic for hackaday. i cannot lay my finger on it, but it just feels off.
These are not like UV tattoos, they glow without UV light independently for hours, it’s like the glow in the dark stars kids have on their ceiling etc.
I tried tattoos but the pigment damaged the needles with electric machines and since silica is non Newtonian the “ink” behaved very strange with the vibrations.
Some people have tried this recently with stick and poke tattoos and that works but is very slow and results in a much less intense glow.
Also Scarification is a thing people still get, I have scars that don’t glow, plus the scars look awesome imo even when not glowing.
But yeah, it’s a seemingly safe, long lasting, mark that glows for 12 hours or so on its own, there’s nothing else like that available 🤷♀️
Thanks for the clarifications – and I didn’t realize silica was non-Newtonian!
Silica is a solid, so they’re wrong.
Confidently Incorrect
silica is a solid, so youre not wrong,
but silica particles in an aqueous suspension do in fact exhibit non-Newtonian fluid behavior
In the clear context of a tattoo machine where the silica must be suspended in water to form an ink the ink is non-Newtonian.
Also if you’re going to be this picky you should know that “solids” don’t follow Newtonian fluid viscosity laws, they are by definition non-Newtonian.
So you’re double wrong.
I think the warnings are wise – this isn’t ear piercing, and it’s not even scarifying as practiced by various indigenous groups over hundreds/thousands of years. It’s very experimental, and could potentially be fine or have serious long-term side effects, we don’t know yet. It’s also a very different risk profile to eg pressurising PVC tubing, or building your own pulse jet, or many of the other projects we see here.
In the US, this would be considered a medical procedure using unapproved products and done by someone with no medical credentials. The disclaimer is necessary to avoid liability and possible criminal charges.
I never want to be the kind of person who lives with this kind of fear on a daily basis. I feel like your soul leaves your body the second you internalize more than a few words of legalese. I’d rather be sued than talk like that, honestly.
shudders at the encapsulation breaching and that stuff leaking into the body
No amount of disclaimers can make me trust a company.
The human body is remarkably tolerant of inorganic contaminants. They’ll be fine.
strontium aluminate is nontoxic, biologically inert. and generally considered biocompatible,
But dont take my word for it.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35328831/
Hey that’s a selling point to some. It is pretty cyberpunk
“manufacturer does not sell the powder for internal use”, so it requires sterilization in an autoclave.
While being sterile is an important concern, it does not make it “USP Class 6” (Implantable) nor ISO 10993 compliant. Cytotoxicity is the low-hanging fruit, but anything but casual contact would also require sensitization and irritation testing. It can run $8000 for all three, which might explain why the powder was not tested (ie, they are not in the medical market).
it’s tested now :)
Have you ever reviewed how the “magnets in the human body” group made out? Not quite as harmless as hoped. (Not particular bad either, but still).
You sir are and idiot (:
Using “and” instead of “an” here is perfect, well done
Someone ( who does not need the props) said “the future is here now, it’s just not evenly distributed”
light sabers, hover boards, personal quad copters and lots more
early bio hacking involved putting bio luminesant jelly fish DNA into monkeys, which was partialy successfull ,but the only monkeys to growup, needed florecent lights to glow, all.the ones that could just glow under ambient conditions, died of complications….
Absolutely repulsive. A jumbled mess of crudely drawn scribbles. The howling wolf is cliché, hackneyed and vulgar.
I was always told, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…
…say it anyway. It’s the foundation of our western society.
If someone doesn’t want to hear things they have the right to walk away.
Nobody’s saying you don’t have the right to be a jerk, but just know that in doing so people will think you’re a jerk…
Your the kind of person the encourages a talentless person to go on a TV talent show.
Aka an cruel asshole.
When you were told ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say’.
You were saying things to little children.
It’s a good rule when talking to curtain climbing snot monkeys.
When dealing with adults ‘you have to be cruel to be kind’.