Ten emojis cover science, and they arrived in two distinct waves. ๐ฌ microscope, ๐ญ telescope and ๐ก satellite antenna came with the main 2010 Unicode 6.0 release. The modern laboratory set, ๐งช test tube, ๐งซ petri dish, ๐งฌ DNA and ๐งฒ magnet, all arrived together in Unicode 11.0 in 2018, filling a gap that had made it awkward to talk about biology or chemistry at all. The two oldest are the strangest: โ alembic and โ atom symbol both date to Unicode 4.1 in 2005, encoded as technical and alchemical printing symbols years before anyone considered them emoji, which is why both can still turn up as flat line drawings rather than coloured tiles.
Browse the science emojis above and pick the one that fits your message.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a DNA emoji?โผ
Yes, ๐งฌ shows a double helix. It arrived in Unicode 11.0 in 2018 alongside the test tube and petri dish, which together were the first proper laboratory biology emoji. Before that there was no way to reference genetics directly.
What does the โ emoji mean?โผ
Atom symbol, representing atomic energy and physics generally. It also serves as the emblem of several secular and humanist organisations, so in some contexts it signals that rather than science, which is worth knowing before using it.
What is the โ alembic emoji?โผ
A distillation flask used in alchemy and early chemistry. It dates to Unicode 4.1 in 2005 and was encoded as a technical printing symbol. It reads as alchemical or historical rather than modern laboratory work, so it suits fantasy themes well.
Why do some science emojis appear in black and white?โผ
โ and โ were catalogued as text symbols back in 2005, so their coloured form has to be requested explicitly. Apps that drop that request leave the font with only the typographic original, drawn as a thin monochrome shape.
Before ๐งช ๐งซ and ๐งฌ arrived in 2018, writing about laboratory science meant using ๐ฌ microscope for everything, or borrowing โ alembic, which depicts a piece of medieval distillation equipment nobody has used in centuries. The DNA helix in particular filled a real gap, because genetics had no representation at all despite being one of the most discussed areas of science in public. These three are recent enough that a phone left unpatched for several years may show empty boxes instead, which is worth knowing if the message matters. The older microscope and telescope have artwork everywhere and are the safer fallback.
Atom and alembic need careful handling
โ atom symbol is the most misused glyph here. It is the standard symbol for atomic energy and by extension physics, but it is also the emblem of several secular and humanist organisations, so it carries associations beyond science in some contexts. โ alembic depicts a distillation flask and historically signals alchemy rather than chemistry, which is why it fits a fantasy or occult aesthetic more comfortably than a lab report. Both date from 2005, and for both the coloured form is optional rather than guaranteed, so they frequently land as flat black line art. For an unambiguous chemistry signal, ๐งช test tube is the better choice.
