Could a tattoo help you stay healthy?

This is a summary of the TED talk “Could a tattoo help you stay healthy?” by Carson Bruns. The talk begins with Carson Bruns speaking about a 5,300-year-old mummy, Ötzi. The mummy, which still has its skin because of being preserved in ice, had 61 black tattoos, which scientists believe were used for therapies like acupuncture. 

Bruns then compares his first tattoo with Ötzi’s, highlighting that they are both made from soot. He also explains that tattoos are pigment particles trapped under the skin and that his and Ötzi’s tattoos look the same at a microscopic level. In his opinion, tattoo technology has evolved very little over the years. 

Bruns, who is also a director at a laboratory that researches nanotechnology, asked himself how nanotechnol...