iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Loïc A. Royer 💻🔬🧪 @loicaroyer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

What if any dataset, any size, any number of dimensions, opened in a browser tab from a link? 🔬🧪💻 Luxar is out today: write it in Python, share it as a link, explore it in any browser. Open source. 🧵 @biohub.org Preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zen... Code: github.com/royerlab/luxar

614657

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

FocalPlane @focalplane.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Our #preprint list highlighting the latest tools and techniques in #microscopy is now up on FocalPlane. Let us know if you have any recommendations and/or give a shout out to your favourite(s)! focalplane.biologists.com/2026/08/07/m...

focalplane.biologists.com

Microscopy preprints – new tools and techniques in imaging - FocalPlane

Microscopy preprints – new tools and techniques in imaging - News

1122

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Lol the naming coincidence is hilarious 😂 and a year a Paris very dreamy 😎

010

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Thanks! My understanding is that the Snouty v3 tip is a separate part that is ground and then glued on at the end. So in principle it doesn't seem too difficult to grind both sides. However I may be missing some important aspect of the process so let's see what @jsdaniel02.bsky.social finds 👍

110

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Special thanks to @jlazzaridean.bsky.social, @nybergg.bsky.social and Nate Thayer for encouraging discussions! This project was funded by Calico Life Sciences LLC and was made possible with the kind support of Magdalena Preciado López and Robert Keyser. www.calicolabs.com

calicolabs.com

Home - Calico

140

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The new 'dual-grind' Snouty is easily made from the current '250 μm grind' v3 objective by adding a ‘900 μm grind’ on the other side. -> The 'dual-grind' Snouty could then replace all previous versions! 1 design for all single-view and dual-view systems! @jsdaniel02.bsky.social? ;)

261

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

We present a current (all stock parts) design with NA 0.6 and an improved design with a newly proposed ‘dual-grind’ AMS-AGY v3 objective to achieve a system NA of 1.0! -> Both designs have orthogonal dual-views with a FOV up to 830 × 1100 × 306 μm (X × Y × Z) × 2 views.

161

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

We approach double the volumetric acquisition rate of previous methods without additional optics in series or moving parts. → Single-view Snouty microscopes can be upgraded to instant dual-view without compromise, offering a strict technical upgrade!

171

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Ultrafast 3D imaging just got faster! Introducing: "Instant dual-view Snouty (iDV-Snouty) light-sheet microscopy" -> Double the data rate of a Snouty microscope by adding a 2nd view! Use the extra view for a variety of imaging modes! Article here: amsikking.github.io/idv-snouty_l...

35616

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

James Manton @jamesdmanton.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

We present: Index-agnostic oblique plane light sheet microscopy of centimetre-scale cleared tissues at subcellular resolution www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

14217

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Ali Shaib @alishaib.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Hello #world, meet 1,000× Expansion Microscopy. A small gel would grow to the size of an Olympic swimming pool, while amino-acid-scale distances become visible with ordinary light microscopy. Led by Helena Hu from @eboyden3.bsky.social's lab, in collab with us. Story: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1018473

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Torsten Wittmann @microtubule.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

A day in the life of a growing hiPSC spheroid expressing endogenously mStayGold-tagged histone 3.3 for #FluorescenceFriday and the #Snouty aficionados. 28 hours (and >50,000 exposures) later and they are still going! Home-brewed volume projection.

311426

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Yes, open source optics would be great! I think traditionally lens designers/manufacturers have worried that if they released the full design that they could be undercut by cheaper alternatives appearing in the market. A lot of the work is in the design, prototype, manufacture, test etc.

000

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

BioImaging North America @bioimagingna.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

#HappyMicroscopyMonday #microscopycommunity - Join the BINA Builders for a panel and discussion on the shift from proprietary systems to community-driven innovation. Thursday, May 21! Learn more: buff.ly/pMShl9t

022

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Kevin Dean @kevin-dean.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Altair Direct View OPM Preprint! We built a simplified direct-view oblique-plane microscope for imaging big, optically accessible specimens with a single-objective light-sheet geometry. Delivers... • ~5.4 mm field of view • ~2.6 μm, ~3.4 μm, and ~17.8 μm resolution in X/Y/Z

1265

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Julia Lazzari-Dean @jlazzaridean.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

We invented “triplet tumbling microscopy” (TTM) to track protein-protein interactions in living cells! Tag your protein with GFP and see it interact with *untagged* binding partners www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A cartoon overview of triplet tumbling microscopy, comparing data from bound and unbound samples.

416654

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Julia Lazzari-Dean @jlazzaridean.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

We’re hiring a scientist to work on microscopy at Calico! If you’re excited about developing and applying cutting edge microscopy to a variety of biological questions, we’d love to hear from you. Find more information and apply here: www.calicolabs.com/careers/?gh_...

calicolabs.com

Careers - Calico

197

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Evelyn Strickland @strickland-evelyn.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

What if you got to work with some of your best friends on a science project? I can't publish how fun this was, but I can show you the data (🧵)! Last week, we posted our second neutrophil swarming paper to bioRxiv and I wanted to post my favorite videos here~ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

315443

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Snouty objectives enable high resolution light-sheet microscopy with standard microscope platforms and sample formats! -> Here are citable repositories with CAD, Zemax and summarized optomechanical specifications: AMS_AGY_v3: a.k.a. Empress Snout, now the best! github.com/amsikking/AM...

github.com

GitHub - amsikking/AMS_AGY_v3_specifications: Optical and mechanical specifications for the AMS-AGY v3 objective (a.k.a Empress Snout).

Optical and mechanical specifications for the AMS-AGY v3 objective (a.k.a Empress Snout). - amsikking/AMS_AGY_v3_specifications

152

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Tanner Fadero @tanner-fadero.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

@patrickzager.bsky.social acquired this lovely 3D timelapse of live neutrophil membrane protrusions on the snoutscope at the UCSF Center for Advanced Light Microscopy. Shown are three orthogonal maximum intensity projections.

0183

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Julia Lazzari-Dean @jlazzaridean.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Hi microscopy folks! I'm looking for your advice 💡 We're shopping for cyclic immunofluorescence instruments to increase throughput and multiplex-ability of tissue IF. Have you worked with cyclic IF platforms (Comet, CellScape, Cell DIVE)? Thoughts? Pain points? Alternatives to consider? Thanks!

111

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

The power of CAD! The ability to precisely draw 3D objects and have them made is still a miracle to me! -> Here's an old design for an alloy block to hold microcentrifuge tubes near freezing when moving them around. It's simple, but I wouldn't want to draw it or make it by hand...

010

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Celebrating science with art! Every 2 weeks for 1 year, the full alphabet. Like, reply or repost with your favorite "Z" scientist! (26/26) -> "Z" is for Zebra, Zucchini, and...Zernike? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frits_Z... Art by @annesikking.bsky.social (my Mum).

120

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

1: with no tilt on Snouty the beads will come in and out of focus as you expect. 2: with a 90deg tilt you'll traverse the beads along the coverslip (low transmission but conceptually useful). 3: With a typical tilt of 30-45deg you'll get some of 1 and 2 (which looks like beads moving vertically).

130

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Proof of principle. A critical step in many projects... -> Here's the first data from an AMS-AGY objective. Without building the whole instrument, it showed that a tilted Snouty (Frustum) objective can avoid the resolution lost in an oblique plane microscope! amsikking.github.io/high_na_sing...

030

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Celebrating science with art! Every 2 weeks for 1 year, the full alphabet. Like, reply or repost with your favorite "Y" scientist! (25/26) -> "Y" is for Yak, Yam, and...Young? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_... Art by @annesikking.bsky.social (my Mum).

030

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Yes I wish the FOV on Nikon (and other) objectives was better specified. Some models are labelled OFN22, others OFN25. The new TIRF series is supposedly compatible with the new Ti2 platform (25mm FOV) but I can't find a definitive spec. More thoughts here: amsikking.github.io/microscope_o...

amsikking.github.io

amsikking: Microscope objectives

150

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Neuronal Signalling Lab @mjc-lab.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Our snouty v3 (AMS-AGY v3) objective arrived today! Looking forward to getting it installed on our single objective light sheet system very soon...

0134

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

How has AI changed CAD? Can AI now reliably generate 3D parts, assemblies and drawings? I'm interested to hear about new tools, workflows and experiences ;) -> Here's a series of enclosures I designed years ago for housing custom lab equipment. Can AI CAD just generate this automatically now?

031

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Celebrating science with art! Every 2 weeks for 1 year, the full alphabet. Like, reply or repost with your favorite "X" scientist! (24/26) -> "X" is for Xeme, Xigua, and...Xanthopoulos? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilis... Art by @annesikking.bsky.social (my Mum).

030

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I'd say it's as sterile with SALDA as it was without SALDA. The SALDA holding tube (stainless steel) and delivery tube (e.g. PTFE) can be sterilized. The delivery tube is readily replaced for an new one if contamination from a previous liquid is of concern.

020

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Special thanks to co-authors @nybergg.bsky.social, @jlazzaridean.bsky.social and Elliot Mount for all their help and hard work! This project was funded by Calico Life Sciences LLC and was made possible with the kind support of Magdalena Preciado López and Robert Keyser. www.calicolabs.com

calicolabs.com

Home - Calico

100

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

A SALDA fluidic system is readily cleaned or replaced and can dispense volumes as low as 10 µl with high trueness (RB = 0.32%) and precision (CV = 1.63%). -> Here we show 100 random dispense events in the 10 µl to 100 µl range with cell culture media with < ~3% error.

100

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

A SALDA is cost effective and readily deployed on commercial or custom microscope platforms. -> Here we provide a SALDA for a specific stage top incubator and inverted microscope, but the setup is easily modified and applied to any system that can accommodate a small ~2 mm diameter tube!

100

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

A SALDA enables accurate and repeatable timing of dispense events without user intervention. -> Here's a SALDA on an inverted microscope with 488 nm excitation and a stage top incubator. The arrangement can readily access pre-programmed wells in a 96 well plate and dispense in < 1 s! (3x playback)

110

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Adding a liquid to a sample during imaging and observing the response is challenging, and often done by a person awkwardly hovering over the microscope with a pipette. -> Here we show the fluorescence response from a SALDA adding thapsigargin to U2-OS cells. User input and disturbances are avoided!

100

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Sharing: A simple automatic liquid dispense arrangement (SALDA) for timelapse microscopy. -> A SALDA enables accurate and repeatable liquid perturbations during timelapse microscopy and avoids environmental disturbance and vibrations from the user! Details here: amsikking.github.io/SALDA_for_ti...

171

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Celebrating science with art! Every 2 weeks for 1 year, the full alphabet. Like, reply or repost with your favorite "W" scientist! (23/26) -> "W" is for Worm, Watercress, and...Watt? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W... Art by @annesikking.bsky.social (my Mum).

030

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Pro tip! As much as I like the 55deg #Snouty microscope configuration (previous post) it's hard to align and keep aligned! -> Consider using pre-designed O2-O3 optomechanics and an eyepiece to help avoid collisions during the set up! github.com/amsikking/SO...

050

Alfred Millett-Sikking @amsikking.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Celebrating science with art! Every 2 weeks for 1 year, the full alphabet. Like, reply or repost with your favorite "V" scientist! (22/26) -> "V" is for Viper, Vanilla, and...Volta? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessan... Art by @annesikking.bsky.social (my Mum).

031

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Julia Lazzari-Dean @jlazzaridean.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

I'm excited to be hiring an intern to develop new fluorescence-based assays for alpha synuclein aggregation at Calico during summer 2026 😃 🔬 If you're a current PhD student who loves microscopy, unnatural amino acids, and/or synuclein biophysics, please apply! www.calicolabs.com/careers/?gh_...

calicolabs.com

Careers - Calico

123

Reposted by Alfred Millett-Sikking

Jon Daniels @jsdaniel02.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

The ASI machine shop made a nice replica model of the AMS-AGY v3 objective for us to have in the #CellBio2025 booth. The first of the real ones will be ready by the end of the year.

0101