TedTest

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

Unscramble the Blue Letters

tootats have often been presented in popular mieda as either marks of the dangerous and dvnieat or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has dieffred greatly across cultures, the practice is as old as catiiilziovn itself. Decorative skin mkgirans have been doevciesrd 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 toottiang really wrkos? 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 tttaoo doesn't gradually flake off along with them? The smlipe 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 mcanhie was modeled after thmaos 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, alilowng ink to seep deep into the dermis, which is coepomsd of collagen fibers, nerves, glands, blood velsess and more. Every time a needle penetrates, it causes a wound that artels the body to begin the inflammatory prsecos, calling immune system cells to the wound site to begin repairing the skin. And it is this very process that makes tattoos permanent. First, secpialezid cells celald 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 erpeimdis as well, but as the skin heals, the damaged epidermal cells are shed and rlpecaed 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 rgeaetoiernn requires 2-4 wekes, 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 nualrtaly as the body reacts to the alien pigment peilrcats, sllowy breaking them down to be carried off by the iumnme system's macrophages. Ultraviolet radiation can also contribute to this pigment bwadkeorn, 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 udnyneilrg pigment clroos of various wavelengths, black being the easiest to target. The laser beam breaks the ink globules into smaller particles that can then be celerad away by the macrophages. But some coolr inks are hdraer to remove than others, and there could be calpimiocntos. For this reason, rmevnoig a tattoo is still more dlciiufft than getting one, but not iimsoplbse. 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

_______ have often been presented in popular _____ as either marks of the dangerous and _______ or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has ________ greatly across cultures, the practice is as old as ____________ itself. Decorative skin ________ have been __________ 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 _________ really _____? 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 ______ doesn't gradually flake 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 _______ was modeled after ______ 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, ________ ink to seep deep into the dermis, which is ________ of collagen fibers, nerves, glands, blood _______ and more. Every time a needle penetrates, it causes a wound that ______ the body to begin the inflammatory _______, calling immune system cells to the wound site to begin repairing the skin. And it is this very process that makes tattoos permanent. First, ___________ cells ______ 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 _________ as well, but as the skin heals, the damaged epidermal cells are shed and ________ 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 ____________ requires 2-4 _____, 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 _________ as the body reacts to the alien pigment _________, ______ breaking them down to be carried off by the ______ system's macrophages. Ultraviolet radiation can also contribute to this pigment _________, 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 __________ pigment ______ of various wavelengths, black being the easiest to target. The laser beam breaks the ink globules into smaller particles that can then be _______ away by the macrophages. But some _____ inks are ______ to remove than others, and there could be _____________. For this reason, ________ a tattoo is still more _________ 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

tattooing
markings
specialized
media
naturally
process
allowing
color
colors
tattoos
weeks
differed
particles
regeneration
epidermis
composed
discovered
civilization
underlying
impossible
complications
called
thomas
vessels
difficult
removing
cleared
immune
tattoo
replaced
machine
harder
alerts
works
breakdown
slowly
simple
deviant

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

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