A Shopping Guide for Science Nerds

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Earth Day 2017 will go down in history. On April 22nd, thousands of scientists and their supporters will march in Washington, DC and in more than 420 cities around the globe in what is expected to be the world’s largest public demonstration in the name of science. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to roll back environmental protections, scrub climate change data from government websites, and slash budgets from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

According to LiveScience, the March for Science started as an idea on Reddit, grew across Facebook and Twitter, and eventually garnered support from over 170 organizations, like the Center for Biological Diversity and the Society for Neuroscience. And there are some pretty badass women leading the charge: Female scientists Caroline Weinberg and Valorie V. Aquino are two of the organizers behind the global protest, while microbiologist Heidi Arjes is knitting her own science “resistor” hats, inspired by the pink pussy hats worn at the Women’s March in January. (Arjes posted her knitting patterns for free online.) There’s even a March for Science knitting group on Facebook with over 2,000 members.

But science, and the love of it, doesn't begin and end with Earth Day. There are some great causes you can donate to support the purpose of the march, and here are some fun, apolitical things you can buy right now to let your geek flag fly all year round.

---

An LED Sweater That Reflects Your Mood

The high-tech fashion company Sensoree has officially opened the waiting list for its new bioresponsive mood sweater. This soft cowl neck sweater uses LED lights to reflect the wearer’s emotion through colors, ranging from excited pink to calm azure.

The fabric is made from recycled plastic bottles and has a rechargeable battery with a micro USB. This is like if your favorite mood ring from the ‘90s and a high-tech body sensor had a ethereal-yet-comfy sweater lovechild.

---

Dresses for Astronomy Nerds and Women Who Love to Code

California Etsy entrepreneur Holly Renee launched her brand Shenova with a line of unique, science-themed dresses. Two that work great for the office are the Dark Matter, for astronomy geeks, and the little black Code Poetry dress, for chic programmers.

The Dark Matter dress print is a three-dimensional map of distant galaxies based on a photo by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The image is a window into the past — a glimpse at the light from these galaxies from 6 billion years ago — and covers a swath of the universe that is 6 billion light-years wide, 4.5 billion light-years high, and 500 million light-years thick.

---

A Starbright Bomber Jacket

Australian brand Black Milk Clothing has created the perfect jacket for women who love space. The blue bomber is printed with a picture of a distant galaxy, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The part of the universe it shows is a patch within the Large Magellanic Cloud about 160,000 light-years away. These stars are in the southern Swordfish constellation of Dorado. The sapphire haze that taints the starry constellation is actually part of a bright blue nebula. This jacket is part of BMC’s Intergalactic Reloaded collection, and it includes a matching sports bra with racerback straps.

---

Psychedelic Pants That Show a Microscopic Closeup

The women-led brand Science Pants launched in 2016, and its collections include athleticwear printed with vibrant images of various molecular processes. The Tolerance capri pants, for example, were inspired by the research of co-founder Alyssa Siefert, who is also engineering co-director at Yale’s Center for Biomedical Innovation and Technology. Her experiments showed morphing peanut protein into a probiotic could actually reverse peanut allergies.

“These pants let you look into the microscope and see the process of peanut-allergic cells becoming tolerant to this delicious food,” Siefert told Racked in an email. “Shown in blue and green are immune cells, called Dendritic Cells, interacting with red nano-peanuts.”

Wearing real medical research on your ass may be the nerdiest thing you can do at the gym, and we wholly approve.

---

A Delicate Necklace With a Little Neuroscience Charm

Dangle your happiness around your neck with handmade jewelry in the elegant shape of the neurotransmitter serotonin, the notorious brain chemical responsible for helping us process moods, emotions, and relationships. This necklace by Etsy jewelry designer Gülten Gürsoy is available in sterling silver, 14K gold fill, or 14K solid gold, and can be customized with a variety of chains so you can find the length that best suits your style.

Since Serotonin plays a biological role in conditions like social anxiety and depression, wearing this necklace can help start conversations that smash mental health stigmas.

---

A Vintage-Inspired Bikini for Chemistry Connoisseurs

Flaunt your chemistry credentials at the pool or the beach with this high-waisted Modcloth bikini. The black pattern features 2D molecular models, showing how elements connect to each other to make cells. The printed models cross-link between red, yellow, and blue polygons, representing combinations of oxygen, hydrogen, and several of their periodic table brethren.

The underwire bustier top comes with detachable straps, and the waist of the bottoms come up right below the navel.