iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 6h

This October, Diwali on the Square returns to light up the heart of London. Join Londoners from every community for a free celebration of light, hope and togetherness. 📅 Sunday 25 October 🕐 1–7pm Everyone is welcome.

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Seán Thomas Kane @sthosdkane.bsky.social · 10h

I’m proud to announce that my dissertation was approved today! Onto the next project. #phd #earlymodern #histsci

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Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 21h

I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:

Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads:

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."

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Sol Feggio @wtdore.bsky.social · 20h

I'm really enjoying this, I recommend to all the Machiavellains out there.

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Sandy B. @nebulousmenace.bsky.social · 18h

Look, you don't even have to stop murdering people [per @adapalmer.bsky.social 's excellent book] so you're probably in.

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Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

THE POISON PALACE: unfolds the era of Alexander the Great's conquering rampage across Eurasia with a graceful, fiery verisimilitude both intimate & mythic...from the Indian subcontinent & stretching all the way to ancient Babylon--it resounds in time, & sings to the present with a singular voice.

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Thinking about this today and... actually for real, how? I know the purpose is explicitly justifying the ways of God to man, and the way you feel the fall at the end to be kind of bittersweet and beautiful certainly is a powerful version of this. But genuinely how did this get past censors?

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Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A few excellent books I've had the opportunity to read & blurb: THE POISON PALACE by @thresholdrose.bsky.social, OUR CUT OF SALT by @deenahelm.bsky.social, A TYRANT IN THE CRACKS by @hachepueyo.bsky.social, A COMPENDIUM OF SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES FOUND...&c by @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social +🧵

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Your brain is two organs stitched together in the womb. Stanford researchers found that the forebrain and midbrain (which handle language and reasoning) and the hindbrain (which runs breathing and heartbeat) grow from two entirely different progenitor cells. buff.ly/dSAPmhS #ShareGoodNewsToo

buff.ly

Human brain is two separate organs, Stanford Medicine-led research finds

Stanford Health Care delivers the highest levels of care and compassion. SHC treats cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, primary care issues, and many more.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

OMG I love this. Prints available, too!

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Rob Crank Photography @robcrank68.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Time for all the #Corvids to pop into the limelight, for #ThursJay. So here's a set consisting of Jays, Crows, Jackdaws & Magpies from various venues. #birds @rspb.bsky.social #photography @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social #CanonR5mkii #ukbirding #ECK #NatureTherapy #birdphotography #CorvidLife #wildlife

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Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Most of the commentary about this concentrates on how it's just an asshole move. And it definitely is. But it's also a violation of ADA

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

So today was exhausting and refused to end. But! One bright point was starting Kylie Lee Baker's Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. Provided necessary relief during the worst What an opening chapter! Love seeing otherworldly horrors bubble up during a pandemic lockdown.

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Brett "Solidarity 2026" Banditelli @banditelli.org · 02/10/2026

Lackluster afternoon at the park, but last sunset until after the heatwave, so i'm giving much love to this yellow rumped warbler who scooped up a couple pieces of dinner just outside my frame. 🪶

Three stills of a yellow rumped warbler in flight, the background has contrast increased to help the birds pop

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Rosywing 🌹 @roserisenn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

'The Beast's Bounty' 37 million autumns ago in Colorado, a young Megacerops is finally tall enough to taste some of the first fresh apples... ever! (Malus florissantensis) He joyfully collects them atop his basket-like head. This is my #paleoart for Day 1 of #Inktober2026! The prompt was 'Apple'.

Digital palaeoart of an extinct rhino-like mammal called Megacerops, which had a forked bony crest on its nose. He is happily picking bright yellow crabapples of the extinct species Malus florissantensis and using the shape of his head like a basket. I've used bold, ink-like outlines and a colouring style meant to mimic that of Copic markers.

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Karl Galle @karlgalle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I mean if @adapalmer.bsky.social can run papal election simulations as an official class assignment, I don't see why the same can't be legitimately done for a "build your professor an early modern sea monster lectern" project? 🤔 bsky.app/profile/adap...

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 01/10/2026

It all started on this day. Thank you for a wonderful twenty years.

Text in the center reads: 20 Years Oct. 2006 - Oct. 2026, clarkesworldmagazine.com

(right) Cover art for issue 241 by Marcel Deneuve is "Labyrinths of Azarax" and features a blue and white mechanical eye in a circular opening looking at a small, white, glowing humanoid figure standing on a large pipe in the tunnel. Many pipes line the walls, all heading out to the main room. Pipes are yellow and gray. Room beyond is blue.

(left) Cover art for issue 1 by Tomasz Pietrzyk is "The Town of the Towers" and features a surreal town of yellowy white distorted towers with reddish orange roofs that overhang the towers and rise to a point. Mishapen dark windows and doors are scattered about on the buildings. Orange sky gives the entire piece a warm tone.

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Lindy 🐲 @rowantreeforest.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Dark and hungry lichens growing nicely, should be ready in time for Haunted Halloween Forest Fest🪾

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Suave Morbida @maitre-poulard.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Il y a en Pologne et plus largement en Europe centrale une tradition, relevée par l'historienne de l'art Magdalena Łanuszka, de chaire baroques en forme de baleine dans certaines églises. C'est assez incroyable. Exemple dans l'église Saints-Pierre-et-Paul de Duszniki-Zdrój en Basse-Silésie (1/n)

Un immense monstre marin jaillit du mur, couvert d’écailles, doté de grandes nageoires et d’une queue noueuse, la gueule grande ouverte, parsemée de molaires carrées et de canines acérées comme celles d’un hippopotame. Ses yeux écarquillés fixent le ciel et son palais rouge est visible dans la cavité de sa mâchoire ouverte.
Autour de sa bouche sont assis, miraculeusement suspendus dans les airs, les quatre évangélistes vêtus de robes d’or.
Des crânes humains gisent sur son museau, à côté d’une figure extraordinaire, squelette d’un côté et chair de l’autre, s’élevant vers le haut. Des figures et des nuages tourbillonnent plus haut vers un soleil au sommet où le Christ ressuscité se tient triomphant.

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John Theibault @jtheibault.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I think I missed this fun thread on paleography when it first appeared. I remember when I first started in the archives being happy when a document in Latin turned up because I could at least make out the words. It does take a while to get the rhythm of old handwriting.

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Colin Smith @colinsmith.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Clearly an exceptionally busy evening for the super-scientific craft of International Rescue as just about everything on Tracy Island that can be launched is piloted on its way, by Graham Bleathman, bless him, from 2022.

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Wizard's Tower Press @wtpress.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

On pre-order, our very Welsh Kickstarter project. They Are Still Here features stories of resistance and resilience in Welsh community, with a little help from our supernatural friends. wizardstowerpress.co...

The cover of They Are Still Here (Mae Nhw Yma O Hyd).

The image is of the sorceror, Gwydion, surrounded by wild animals (wolf, boar, deer) in a Celtic knotwork frame. Gwydion's hat is crowned with antlers. He carries an axe in his right hand and an oak twig in his left.

Art by Josh Arklin.

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Betty Cracker of Florida @bettycrackerfl.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

White tail deer walks among the ducks and vultures at sunrise in the swamp.

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Vivid numbers in this overview of Illinois’s new Net Zero carbon plan: “improvements in air quality alone would lead to between 392 & 631 fewer premature deaths per year. That translates to between $8.8 and $13.8 billion in avoided healthcare costs & increased worker productivity.” #ShareGoodNewsToo

hpherald.com

Illinois EPA releases ‘Comprehensive Climate Action Plan’ to reach ‘net zero’ emissions

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois has made substantial progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, but it is not yet on track to meet its goal of reaching net-zero emissions

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I Support People Protesting in Support of Palestinian Action @srdfrench.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I have renewed awe for historians having struggled to translate the handwriting on a note by a German physicist from the ‘50s (the 1950s!)

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

READ: If you haven’t seen this yet, please take a look. Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people from making rational judgements about driving. This study co-authored by @ianwalker.bsky.social looks at where this bias comes from & how it works. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Screetshot of study title “Why Do Cars Get A Free Ride?” #CarBrain #Motonormativity

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Paul Cornell @paulcornell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I’m told we got an AI use notification for that last Murderbot post on Insta, the one with the Sanctuary Moon logo. I can assure you we didn’t use AI. #Murderbot

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Beyond Shakespeare @beyondshakes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The signal has been sent... Something is coming...

A cat signal in the sky. Dark blue background, silhouette of a cat on a plinth to the bottom right, looking up at a projected cat sign in the sky, a la Batman. But with a cat. Cos.

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Dave Owen @wavenode.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

If you were planning to get something done by the end of September, then Professor Sir Fred Hoyle FRS has some bad news for you, sunshine.

Paperback cover to "October the First Is Too Late" by Fred Hoyle

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Matthew Willis (Naval Air History) @navalairhistory.com · 01/10/2026

I enjoyed the device in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy where Arthur Dent inadvertently caused the Heart of Gold's computer to occupy all its processing capacity in making him a proper pot of tea, rendering the ship defenceless

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Our fourth Beforecast episode is up, with more fun Machiavelli gossip! And a zoom in on why he and fellow patriots loved the unique city of Florence so much! youtu.be/ehJRm-OzbHo

youtu.be

Why did Machiavelli love this city so much? | Beforecast Episode 4 with Ada Palmer

YouTube video by Beforecast

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

It’s #HandwritingDay so I thought I’d share a thread about Renaissance handwritten documents I worked with in the research that led to “Inventing the Renaissance,” and the best and worst scripts I’ve ever seen. 1/? (Continuing countdown to the release of my *absurdly fat* *absurdly orange* book!)

Detail of some handwritten Latin. A note written in the bottom left margin of a book is in smaller, paler text than the bolder letters visible in the top right corner where the main text of the book is. At the top one can read a word which begins "Ne" and then has a bizarre squiggle, The next word is clearly "pro" then a strange line. The following words, to an expert eye, can be read as "sustitudine veterii alterum requirit ut neque hoc neque illud primus Cicero usus est sine altorum" but most of hte words are very hard to make out, many have omitted letters assuming you'll recognize the abbreviation, and only the word "Cicero" is really recognizable to a modern eye.

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Claire ✨ @astrozombies76.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Evening everyone. #DoctorWho

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Patriotic Millionaires @patrioticmillionaires.org · 30/09/2026

Did you know that sociologist Cristóbal Young studied 13 years of tax returns covering every million-dollar filer in America? And you know what he found out? That millionaires were less likely to move compared to those making $10,000. civicmedia.us/shows/patrio...

civicmedia.us

Millionaires Won't Leave

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Ann Tandy-Treiber @anntandy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is not the usual budget woes, MN folks. These cuts will fundamentally damage our flagship university, one of the biggest economic drivers of the state, possibly irrevocably.

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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Free fallin' into this day like this fetus did in 1582.

a detail of a fetus in a womb from a 1582 German book titled: Hebãmenbuechlin (VD16 R 2846).

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EMoDiR @emodir.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#CfA 📢 I Tatti Residential Fellowship 2027–28, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies Postdoctoral #fellowships for research on the Italian Renaissance (14th–17th c.) 📆 2027–28 | 🌍 Florence (It) ⏰ 15 Oct 2026 🔗 itatti.harvard.edu/i-tatti-fellowship #EarlyModern

hf.uio.no

The Voice of Prophecy: Women, Men, and Political Theology in Early Modern Reformations - The Norwegian Institute in Rome

International Conference The Norwegian Institute in Rome is happy to host the international conference “The Voice of Prophecy”, organized by Eleonora Cappuccilli (University of Oslo).

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Kathrin Kininger @guidobaldine.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Es ist ein besonderer Tag, wenn Poggio Bracciolini in meiner Timeline vorkommt! 😍

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The Creatively Maladjusted @tyrotcm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Never doubt the positive effects of participating in online social communities with medically fragile hermits. Moral support, fundraising, networking, etc. can have outsized positive effects on lonely people like me who really, *really* need a win. #ShareGoodNewsToo #MutualAid #HelpSky

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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 30/09/2026

BREAKING NEWS: “Do geese see God” is a palindrome

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