TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Claudia Aguirre: What makes tattoos permanent?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Tattoos have often been presented in popular media as either makrs of the dangerous and deviant or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has differed gtelray across cultures, the practice is as old as civilization itself. dciaotvree skin markings have been discovered in human remains all over the world, with the oldest found on a Peruvian mummy dating back to 6,000 BCE. But have you ever wondered how tattooing really wkors? You may know that we shed our skin, lnisog about 30-40,000 skin cells per hour. That's about 1,000,000 per day. So, how come the tattoo doesn't gradually fakle off along with them? The smiple answer is that tattooing involves getting pigment deeper into the skin than the outermost layer that gets shed. Throughout history, different cultures have used various methods to accomplish this. But the first modern tattooing machine was mdeeold after Thomas Edison's eningavrg machine and ran on electricity. Tattooing machines used today insert tiny needles, loaded with dye, into the skin at a feeqcnruy of 50 to 3,000 times per minute. The needles pucnh through the erepimdis, aiowlnlg ink to seep deep into the dermis, which is composed of collagen fibers, nerves, glands, blood vessels and more. Every time a nledee penetrates, it causes a wound that alters the body to begin the inflammatory process, calling immune sstyem cells to the wuond site to begin repairing the skin. And it is this very process that makes tattoos permanent. First, sazpleiiced cells called macrophages eat the invading material in an attempt to caeln up the inflammatory mess. As these clels travel through the lymphatic system, some of them are carried back with a belly full of dye into the lymph nodes while others remain in the dermis. With no way to dispose of the pigment, the dyes inside them rmeian visible through the skin. Some of the ink particles are also suspended in the gel-like matrix of the dermis, while others are engulfed by dermal cells called fibroblasts. Initially, ink is deposited into the epidermis as well, but as the skin heals, the damaged epidermal cells are shed and replaced by new, dye-free cells with the topmost layer pelenig off like a heeling sunburn. Blistering or ctnsruig is not tacllpiyy seen with professional tattoos and clemotpe epidermal regeneration requires 2-4 weeks, during which excess sun esurpoxe and swmiinmg should be avoided to prevent fading. Dermal cells, however, remain in place until they die. When they do, they are taken up, ink and all, by younger cells nearby, so the ink styas where it is. But with time, tattoos do fade naturally as the body reacts to the alien pigment pirletcas, slowly breaking them down to be ciearrd off by the iunmme system's macrophages. Ultraviolet radiation can also contribute to this pigment breakdown, though it can be mitigated by the use of sunblock. But since the dermal cells are relatively slbtae, much of the ink will remain deep in the skin for a person's whole life. But if tattoos are embedded in your skin for life, is there any way to erase them? Technically, yes. Today, a laser is used to penetrate the epidermis and blast apart underlying pginemt colors of various wavelengths, black being the easiest to target. The lesar beam breaks the ink globules into smaller particles that can then be cleared away by the macrophages. But some color inks are harder to remvoe than others, and there could be complications. For this resaon, removing a tottao is still more difficult than getting one, but not isiompsble. So a single tattoo may not truly last forever, but tattoos have been around longer than any existing culture. And their continuing popularity means that the art of tattooing is here to stay.

Open Cloze

Tattoos have often been presented in popular media as either _____ of the dangerous and deviant or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has differed _______ across cultures, the practice is as old as civilization itself. __________ skin markings have been discovered in human remains all over the world, with the oldest found on a Peruvian mummy dating back to 6,000 BCE. But have you ever wondered how tattooing really _____? You may know that we shed our skin, ______ about 30-40,000 skin cells per hour. That's about 1,000,000 per day. So, how come the tattoo doesn't gradually _____ off along with them? The ______ answer is that tattooing involves getting pigment deeper into the skin than the outermost layer that gets shed. Throughout history, different cultures have used various methods to accomplish this. But the first modern tattooing machine was _______ after Thomas Edison's _________ machine and ran on electricity. Tattooing machines used today insert tiny needles, loaded with dye, into the skin at a _________ of 50 to 3,000 times per minute. The needles _____ through the _________, ________ ink to seep deep into the dermis, which is composed of collagen fibers, nerves, glands, blood vessels and more. Every time a ______ penetrates, it causes a wound that ______ the body to begin the inflammatory process, calling immune ______ cells to the _____ site to begin repairing the skin. And it is this very process that makes tattoos permanent. First, ___________ cells called macrophages eat the invading material in an attempt to _____ up the inflammatory mess. As these _____ travel through the lymphatic system, some of them are carried back with a belly full of dye into the lymph nodes while others remain in the dermis. With no way to dispose of the pigment, the dyes inside them ______ visible through the skin. Some of the ink particles are also suspended in the gel-like matrix of the dermis, while others are engulfed by dermal cells called fibroblasts. Initially, ink is deposited into the epidermis as well, but as the skin heals, the damaged epidermal cells are shed and replaced by new, dye-free cells with the topmost layer _______ off like a heeling sunburn. Blistering or ________ is not _________ seen with professional tattoos and ________ epidermal regeneration requires 2-4 weeks, during which excess sun ________ and ________ should be avoided to prevent fading. Dermal cells, however, remain in place until they die. When they do, they are taken up, ink and all, by younger cells nearby, so the ink _____ where it is. But with time, tattoos do fade naturally as the body reacts to the alien pigment _________, slowly breaking them down to be _______ off by the ______ system's macrophages. Ultraviolet radiation can also contribute to this pigment breakdown, though it can be mitigated by the use of sunblock. But since the dermal cells are relatively ______, much of the ink will remain deep in the skin for a person's whole life. But if tattoos are embedded in your skin for life, is there any way to erase them? Technically, yes. Today, a laser is used to penetrate the epidermis and blast apart underlying _______ colors of various wavelengths, black being the easiest to target. The _____ beam breaks the ink globules into smaller particles that can then be cleared away by the macrophages. But some color inks are harder to ______ than others, and there could be complications. For this ______, removing a ______ is still more difficult than getting one, but not __________. So a single tattoo may not truly last forever, but tattoos have been around longer than any existing culture. And their continuing popularity means that the art of tattooing is here to stay.

Solution

remove
typically
exposure
complete
punch
allowing
clean
greatly
remain
engraving
reason
marks
needle
losing
wound
crusting
pigment
works
tattoo
laser
cells
swimming
impossible
peeling
specialized
simple
stable
immune
system
epidermis
alerts
stays
frequency
carried
flake
decorative
modeled
particles

Original Text

Tattoos have often been presented in popular media as either marks of the dangerous and deviant or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has differed greatly across cultures, the practice is as old as civilization itself. Decorative skin markings have been discovered in human remains all over the world, with the oldest found on a Peruvian mummy dating back to 6,000 BCE. But have you ever wondered how tattooing really works? You may know that we shed our skin, losing about 30-40,000 skin cells per hour. That's about 1,000,000 per day. So, how come the tattoo doesn't gradually flake off along with them? The simple answer is that tattooing involves getting pigment deeper into the skin than the outermost layer that gets shed. Throughout history, different cultures have used various methods to accomplish this. But the first modern tattooing machine was modeled after Thomas Edison's engraving machine and ran on electricity. Tattooing machines used today insert tiny needles, loaded with dye, into the skin at a frequency of 50 to 3,000 times per minute. The needles punch through the epidermis, allowing ink to seep deep into the dermis, which is composed of collagen fibers, nerves, glands, blood vessels and more. Every time a needle penetrates, it causes a wound that alerts the body to begin the inflammatory process, calling immune system cells to the wound site to begin repairing the skin. And it is this very process that makes tattoos permanent. First, specialized cells called macrophages eat the invading material in an attempt to clean up the inflammatory mess. As these cells travel through the lymphatic system, some of them are carried back with a belly full of dye into the lymph nodes while others remain in the dermis. With no way to dispose of the pigment, the dyes inside them remain visible through the skin. Some of the ink particles are also suspended in the gel-like matrix of the dermis, while others are engulfed by dermal cells called fibroblasts. Initially, ink is deposited into the epidermis as well, but as the skin heals, the damaged epidermal cells are shed and replaced by new, dye-free cells with the topmost layer peeling off like a heeling sunburn. Blistering or crusting is not typically seen with professional tattoos and complete epidermal regeneration requires 2-4 weeks, during which excess sun exposure and swimming should be avoided to prevent fading. Dermal cells, however, remain in place until they die. When they do, they are taken up, ink and all, by younger cells nearby, so the ink stays where it is. But with time, tattoos do fade naturally as the body reacts to the alien pigment particles, slowly breaking them down to be carried off by the immune system's macrophages. Ultraviolet radiation can also contribute to this pigment breakdown, though it can be mitigated by the use of sunblock. But since the dermal cells are relatively stable, much of the ink will remain deep in the skin for a person's whole life. But if tattoos are embedded in your skin for life, is there any way to erase them? Technically, yes. Today, a laser is used to penetrate the epidermis and blast apart underlying pigment colors of various wavelengths, black being the easiest to target. The laser beam breaks the ink globules into smaller particles that can then be cleared away by the macrophages. But some color inks are harder to remove than others, and there could be complications. For this reason, removing a tattoo is still more difficult than getting one, but not impossible. So a single tattoo may not truly last forever, but tattoos have been around longer than any existing culture. And their continuing popularity means that the art of tattooing is here to stay.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
cells called	2
dermal cells	2

Important Words

accomplish
alerts
alien
allowing
answer
art
attempt
avoided
bce
beam
belly
black
blast
blistering
blood
body
breakdown
breaking
breaks
called
calling
carried
cells
civilization
clean
cleared
collagen
color
colors
complete
complications
composed
continuing
contribute
crusting
culture
cultures
damaged
dangerous
dating
day
decorative
deep
deeper
deposited
dermal
dermis
deviant
die
differed
difficult
discovered
dispose
dye
dyes
easiest
eat
electricity
embedded
engraving
engulfed
epidermal
epidermis
erase
excess
existing
exposure
fade
fading
fads
fibers
fibroblasts
flake
frequency
full
glands
globules
gradually
greatly
harder
heals
heeling
history
hour
human
immune
impossible
inflammatory
initially
ink
inks
insert
invading
involves
laser
layer
life
loaded
longer
losing
lymph
lymphatic
machine
machines
macrophages
markings
marks
material
matrix
meaning
means
media
mess
methods
minute
mitigated
modeled
modern
mummy
naturally
nearby
needle
needles
nerves
nodes
oldest
outermost
particles
peeling
penetrate
penetrates
permanent
peruvian
pigment
place
popular
popularity
practice
presented
prevent
process
professional
punch
radiation
ran
reacts
reason
regeneration
remain
remains
remove
removing
repairing
replaced
requires
seep
shed
simple
single
site
skin
slowly
smaller
specialized
stable
stay
stays
styles
sun
sunblock
sunburn
suspended
swimming
system
target
tattoo
tattooing
tattoos
technically
thomas
time
times
tiny
today
topmost
travel
trendy
typically
ultraviolet
underlying
vessels
visible
wavelengths
weeks
wondered
works
world
wound
younger
youth