The new ‘smart tattoo’ that is coming to an arm near you

300px-Graphen[I] have been saying this for years–graphene would become the substrate for ‘smart’ tattoos.

An article published at the Daily Mail yesterday evening (2/22/13), reveals current research from Princeton that demonstrates just one new use of the miracle form of carbon, ‘graphene’. Graphene is a one atom thick layer form of carbon (the ‘666’ element – one electron, one neutron, one proton). In graphene, the carbon atoms form a crystalline structure that gives the substance strength and flexibility.

Graphene uses include computer chips, touch screens, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), solar cells, distillation, and many more. Now (as I have been predicting all along), the hexagonal lattice will provide the perfect setting for a smart tattoo. Now we have a ‘mark’ that can communicate with computers.

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McAlpen’s group originally added a graphene tattoo to a cow’s tooth as a means to detect bacterial infection.

Mike McAlpen, one of the Princeton researchers who used graphene to tattoo cow’s teeth, is now experimenting with gold and silk as a substrate for the ‘smart’ tatt.

Though this ‘tatt’ is temporary, we might eventually see a version that is implanted just below the outer layer of skin–still visible, but tougher to remove. I can imagine how such a tattoo would be promoted. We’d see an ad where a man or woman with SARS or another easily transmissible illness (perhaps even a modern ‘plague’) is about to enter a plane loaded with passengers that include children. A small handheld ‘tricorder’ device scans everyone as they file past–suddenly, the device alarms. The ‘tattoo’ has told the ‘tricorder’ that the infected person is ill, and he/she is removed from the line and sent to a hospital for isolation. The passengers are saved!

Perhaps, such a device will also carry access to our Obamacare health records, or it has our driving history, our work history, our online passwords. One might easily imagine that such a ‘smart’ tattoo would become mandatory–for the safety and security of our nation AND to make all our lives happier, healthier, and more fulfilling.

And we could neither buy nor sell without one.  But even though Christian prophecy scholars view such cutting edge tech as ‘signs of the times’, others simply see these inventions as a means to make their lives easier. Consider Nokia’s recent patent application for a ‘smart’ graphene tattoo with magnetized ink that lets the wearer know when his/her phone is ringing. DNA  reading tattoos (Dattoos), a smart tattoo that displays blood sugar levels or health warnings, a tattoo that offers dynamic artwork–and even a touch screen that is embedded in one’s skin—all are now possible through graphene and its silicon counterpart, silicene.

We live in an ever-changing, brave new world. Are you ready?