Science baby...

May 11, 2005 7:01 PM

Science/physics geeks (and I mean geek in the most affectionate possible way) -- I need a hand. Two extremely sciencey friends of mine are having a baby, and I am looking for something to embroider on a little outfit for it.

One parent is a glaciologist/astronomy fan/physics whiz, and the other is a fan of all things sciencey and mathy. I will be embroidering a bunch of little pictures (rocketship, atoms, etc), and I need some text to go in the middle.

Ideas that are lovely, but have been rejected for one reason or another are "Back off man, I'm a tiny scientist," "Rocket scientist," and "What part of [embroider maxwell's equations here] don't you understand?"

So, science people -- what would be just incredibly hilarious to see written on a baby's shirt?

posted by jennyjenny to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (19 answers total)

Not quite what you're thinking, but a great combination of astronomy, math, and embroidery would be the first page of the Dumas message, possibly for the back of the outfit rather than the front, as it's not very colourful :)

It's a fairly famous (and obscure at the same time) example of a universal languge, transmitted into space, designed so that an alien civilisation could make sense of it.

What that means is that it also makes a really neat puzzle for the rest of us to decypher. And more to the point, it looks interesting, a geek conversation starter :)

The subseqent pages get tougher and tougher to read, as they build on more complex universal constants, but the first page is pretty acessible to all - though it may take a while.
posted by -harlequin- at 7:30 PM on May 11, 2005

For images, how about the voyager plaque? (Direct image link) If it's good enough for communicating with aliens, it's good enough for their kid!
posted by true at 7:38 PM on May 11, 2005

I'm a fan of einstein's equation,


but these colorful illustrations from a Penrose lecture would be great.
posted by cytherea at 7:51 PM on May 11, 2005

Best answer: The Gallium square from the periodic table?
cause babies say Ga Ga...?
posted by fatllama at 7:53 PM on May 11, 2005

Maxwell's Demon
posted by Quietgal at 8:00 PM on May 11, 2005

I've always liked The integral of e to the x is equal to f of the quantity u to the n, but I don't think that would be appropriate for a baby. The site might be useful, though :)

(for non mathies: the equation in mathematical symbols looks like Sex = fun)
posted by carmen at 8:22 PM on May 11, 2005

Perhaps cellular automata from Conway's Game of Life?
posted by RichardP at 8:25 PM on May 11, 2005

How about "Carbon-based biological construct?"
posted by cerebus19 at 8:32 PM on May 11, 2005

Ooh. *votes for RichardP*
posted by fatllama at 8:36 PM on May 11, 2005

Best answer: I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this shirt is too small to contain.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 10:55 PM on May 11, 2005 [1 favorite]

Maxwell's Equations alone or a Feynman Diagram of some sort would be nice, not incredibly difficult, and not too detailed to be illegible on a baby-sized outfit. Don't know if they reach the level of hilarious though...
posted by blm at 11:19 PM on May 11, 2005

"Not a baby. Time traveler caught in a Time storm. Ask me about it in 2246 AD"
posted by vacapinta at 12:06 AM on May 12, 2005

e^iπ=-1

Not funny. But so cuuute on a baby.
posted by Turtle at 4:05 AM on May 12, 2005

Although their site is not showing images (grr), Dookie Wear offers an outfit with the slogan "Evil Genius for a Better Tomorrow."
posted by plinth at 6:27 AM on May 12, 2005

I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this shirt is too small to contain.

I love this very much.
posted by redfoxtail at 6:36 AM on May 12, 2005

Do you know the baby's name? Perhaps you could spell it out with symbols for chemical elements, e.g., Ni C Ho La S. Do a full square for each element, with atomic number and weight.

Unfortunately, the majority of names can't be spelled out with element symbols. There's a website somewhere where you can easily check whether a word can be spelled from element symbols, but I can't seem to find it. If you can't, I third the "truly remarkable proof" suggestion.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:06 AM on May 12, 2005

I'm told that I had overalls with a Fano plane stitched on them. It's got 7 points, 7 lines, two points determine a line (counting the circular one), two lines always intersect in a point (no parallel lines).
posted by Aknaton at 1:24 PM on May 12, 2005

DNA model?
posted by armacy at 2:08 PM on May 12, 2005

Here is a Periodic table name spelling website as suggested by DevilsAdvocate.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:02 PM on May 12, 2005