iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Harvest moon setting right now into my zinnias, with bonus angel's trumpet.

A photograph of the full harvest moon setting into the trees on the other side of a small lake. In the foreground, a large, white angel's trumpet (brugmansia) flower and leaves hang down. To the left is a tangled mess of pink zinnias.

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This is fairly accurate. I grew up in NC, spent 14 years in Massachusetts, then moved back. My relatives said I talked like a Yankee now, but I reckon that was superficial. 'Y'all' (pronounced 'yaw') is very deeply ingrained.

A screenshot of my results for the dialect quiz that is trending right now. A map of the United States, with color-coded shaded contours trending from blue, "Least like you", to red, "Most like you". The red is centered on the southeast coast. "You talk most like someone from North Carolina".

010

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Our local great blue heron patrolling the lake in the fog yesterday morning. He wouldn't strike a classic heron profile pose, so here he is in stick form. #birds #naturephotography #heron

In the foreground, out of focus, are pink zinnias. In the middle ground is water, with a large drain with an ugly yellow mesh cap. In the background, a great blue heron stands erect on the grassy bank of the lake, with dark evergreen trees fading into the fog.

021

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Before sunrise and moonset this morning, a quiet fog

Three pink zinnia flowers in the foreground, a lake and trees in the foggy background, and a hazy moon in the pale pre-dawn sky.

051

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I must have picked this up at a Scholastic Book Fair, and I read it at least thirteen times. This was pre-Narnia and The Hobbit.

100

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

"My piece was inspired by Picasso's Guernica...The patterns near Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s mouths are actually their last words in Morse code: ‘I’m not mad at you,’ and ‘Are you okay?’” -Jennifer Nelson (quoted in the linked booklet, alongside other extraordinary pieces)

6546228

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Lorna @florilegia.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I think everyone should see this incredible picture of Dolly Parton: it’s by Stacie Williams (asterosperma on Instagram) and it’s called The Queen of Appalachia

A stunning screenprint image in a style which is part folk art, part religious icon. Dolly Parton sits on a throne-like wooden chair, surrounded by garlands of flowers and leaves. Orange butterflies (I think they are monarchs?) hover around her head. Her hair is huge and golden, and she is wearing a long, sweeping orange gown, which is turned up over her knee to show off her brown knee length high heeled boots. Two black bear cubs play around her, one on the floor and one in her lap. Dolly stares calmly at the viewer. Her right hand is raised in benediction, and in her left she holds a ripe strawberry which she is feeding to one of the bear cubs.

The original post is here https://www.instagram.com/p/B8rvBpTlRxZ/?igsi=Z2x5aTB5aHp5NXFp

2239031122

Reposted by Adam Trotter

kimdorman.bsky.social @kimdorman.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Kathleen Raine

1175

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 13/08/2026

You live any universe and on a planet where 4 billion years of adaptive evolution lead up to this happening today.

16633115

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Back to Occoneechee Mountain after the recent rains, which finally cracked the crust of the drought and let the mushrooms bloom. #Mushrooms #Fungi #NaturePhotography

Fragile dapperling (Leucocoprinus fragilissimus). A top-down view of a circular mushroom cap. It is translucent, pale violet with many radial spokes of pale yellow, with a small yellow circle at the center. It seems to glow against the dark background of leaf litter.

Shaggy-stalked bolete (Aureoboletus betula). A tall, shaggy, red and yellow stalk supports a bright yellow and rust-colored cap that looks like a hemispherical dish of crème brûlée, or maybe a personal pan pizza.

Eastern North American Destroying Angel (Amanita bisporigera). I think. I wouldn't want to be wrong about this one in any situation where it mattered. It is an all-white mushroom. The stalk has a collar halfway up that seems to drape around it. The cap is shaped like a classic flying saucer.

Eastern cauliflower mushroom (Sparassis spathulata). A very frilly white fungus that looks like the kind of lace sleeve a courtier might have worn to a shindig at Versailles.

020

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Theodor Kittelsen, 'I Came to the Secret Springs and Lakes Where Moose Slake Their Thirst', crayon on paper, 1900

110822

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

This is always a lovely spot, but especially so early in the morning with the sunlight slanting down the river. By the Eno River at Occoneechee Mountain in Hillsborough, North Carolina. #nature #photography #forest #naturephotography

A scene on a trail in the woods. A lone bench sits amid the twisting roots of a beech tree on a riverbank. The rising sun behind it is casting rays of light through the trees and illuminating the path on the left. On the right, the path continues into the shadow of mountain laurels.

180

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

At this time of year, the rising sun shines through the helical gaps in Lu:ní Oni:-kǫ, the Twisted Old Tree on Occoneechee Mountain in Hillsborough, North Carolina. #tree #nature #photography #forest #naturephotography

The rising sun shines through narrow gaps in the trunk of a living red maple tree that is hollowed out in a helix shape. The tree is standing by a trail in a green forest. Occoneechee Mountain, Hillsborough, North Carolina.

1142

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Jadzia Axelrod 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @planetx.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Lynda Barry did not squeeze your heart and simultaneously explain the point of all art with the barest of line drawings so you could tell me that AI is "inevitable."

HOW TO LOOK AT ART by Lynda Barry

In the first panel, a dog-headed woman, a mother, looks at a painting in the "Madonna with Baby Jesus" vein. A small blobby child is standing next to her.

Mother: IM NOT SURE HOW TO LOOK AT ART.
Child: WHATS SPOSTA HAPPEN?

In the second panel the dog-headed mother holds up her hands (paws?) trying to explain to the child.

Mother: SOMETHING BIG. A REVELATION.
SUDDENLY YOU JUST UNDERSTAND.

In the third panel dog-headed mother goes back to looking at the painting. The child holds up their arms to be lifted.

Mother: NOT SURE HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Child: HOW BOUT LIFT ME UP SO I CAN SEE BETTER

In the last panel, the dog-headed mother is holding the child, their position mirrored by the Madonna and baby Jesus in the painting.

695892895

Reposted by Adam Trotter

ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 24/06/2026

No less than 60 million stars in one image. It's possible thanks to ESA's Euclid mission. For just one day, Euclid turned its gaze to the crowded heart of the Milky Way and captured the largest, most detailed photo ever taken of our galaxy's centre in visible light. Let's dive deeper 👇 🔭 🧪 ☄️ 1/8

A dense field of tiny stars fills this square image taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The lower and central areas are dominated by bright yellow and gold colours, forming a textured background similar to fine glitter or sand. Dark brown and black patches cut irregularly through the yellow regions, like ink stains or clouds of smoke. Toward the upper left, the colours shift to purple and reddish tones, blending gently into the surrounding star field. Small blue points of light are scattered across the image.

14660238

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Clément Canonne @ccanonne.github.io · 23/06/2026

This is truly an excellent in-depth post by @moultano.bsky.social: moultano.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/w... Realizing all these colors we're missing out on. Ah, to be young, and a bird again!

moultano.wordpress.com

Where to Find the Colors Your Screen Can’t Show You

An atlas of the vibrance of the real world

0224

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

1/18 A giant underground eye is spying on elusive particles…and it has already made a big result! JUNO — a huge sphere with 20,000 tonnes of transparent liquid buried in China — delivered impressive #antineutrino measurements with its first 59 days of data (late 2025). 🔭🧪⚛️ juno.ihep.cas.cn

Exterior view of the JUNO detector, a massive spherical neutrino observatory buried underground in China. The image shows the large stainless steel structure and supporting infrastructure of the 20,000-tonne liquid scintillator detector.
(Official photo from the JUNO Collaboration)

812740

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Sharon "Screams in Perimenopause" Z @sharonz.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

With alt text because this is so good everyone should get to enjoy it.

Marge Simpson looks horrified and says “have you been up all night watching scaffolding?”

41067305

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This is absolutely astonishing - it's rare in astronomy to see so much change on a human timescale, but this really shows how dynamic the gas and dust around a young star can be. Seeing the shadows from the inner regions cast out onto the outer spiral arms, amazing!

619059

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 29/05/2026

Of all the harm this administration has done to US science, today's proposed changes to the way federal grants are awarded and administered is the most damaging yet. The text of the federal register document is impenetrably tedious by design, so here's an excellent summary of what it says.

331657977

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

A Painting of a Hand, Hastakara Yantra, 19th century Tantric painting from Rajasthan, India

313127

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

A chilly morning after an April heat wave, and misty vortices are dancing down the Eno River

040

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Andy Saunders - Apollo Remastered @andysaunders-1.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Wait for it to focus... Sound up... Earthset, recorded by Reid Wiseman during the Artemis II lunar flyby. The initial imperfect composition, and the phone hunting for focus makes this so much more human and familiar. A celestial scene witnessed by only 28 of us in history...more

415749

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Artemis 2 was the furthest human voyage from Earth. Per the final JPL Horizons trajectory I estimate the max distance from the geocenter was 413145 km at 2304 UTC Apr 6 (about 4 km less and 1 min later than PAO's report at the time). (1 / n ).....

846883

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 03/04/2026

More context on this #Artemis II image: * This is the night side, lit by moonlight. You can see city lights in Spain & Portugal, & a sliver of day at lower right * The Sun is entirely behind Earth, which makes it a kind of solar eclipse, but w/ Earth doing the eclipsing instead of the Moon: ☀️🌍🚀🌕

A full disc image of Earth, as seen from the Orion Crew Module. The planet is a pale blue, swirling with white clouds and glowing slightly lighter blue in place from reflected light. At lower left, a large brown landmass is Africa, with Spain and Portugal with twinkling lights where the planet curves. At top right, auroras glow in a thin green glow, just barely separated from the planet's surface. Earth is set against the black of space (pic: NASA/R.Wiseman)

231130403679

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Post a pic you took, no context, to bring some zen to the feed.

Concentric ripples on the surface of the water, with blurred reflections of green and yellow leaves

020

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Joaquín Baldwin @joabaldwin.com · 19/02/2026

Moon and Mercury setting next to the Griffith Observatory just moments ago. Found a good spot to take photos. #Photography #Astrophotography

Photo of a big new moon on the top-left of frame, shot at 500mm, with a red dot in the center of frame (Mercury) and the Griffith Observatory on the bottom-right corner.

472981521

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Our local great blue heron, who I call Harold, chilling on the frozen lake last week.

A great blue heron stands on the frozen surface of a lake. Its neck is tucked in and the white feathers on its chest are puffed out.

150

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Dakota Smith @weatherdak.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

That flow tho.

524556

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

I caught this great blue heron standing in reflection by the bank of the Eno River, at Historic Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, North Carolina. #photography #birdoftheday #reflections

A great blue heron stands on a small sand bar, gazing at a spot in front of it. It is reflected in the smooth surface of the water. Behind it is the steep red clay bank of the river, and a rock.

1190

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Andrea Luck @andrealuck.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Hey Martians, did I mention we now also have a video of epic Phobos passing over a Martian dust storm near Pavonis Mons? 🌪️🌋🥔 Video & full info: flic.kr/p/2rNN8wk Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY @esa.int Mars Express HRSC 300 MP Photo quoted below Easy zoom: easyzoom.com/image/674026

8481189

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

Keith Haring, The Nativity, subway drawing, c. 1983

Drawing in white on black background using stylized cartoonish figures to depict the Nativity, with angels and a star above, the three kings at left, baby and two adults in a small structure, and crawling babies below

61770503

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

have a picture of my handsome goose neighbor

A picture of a goose standing in the sunlight, looking dapper in black, white, and brown feathers. He is alert, with neck stretched up and head turned to look at the camera. In the background is rippling green water.

070

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy

A scene from the film "A Fish Called Wanda" in two panels, set on a dock at a busy seaport. In panel one, Otto (Kevin Kline) says, smugly, "Apes don't read philosophy". In panel two, Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) replies, in angry exasperation, "Yes they do, Otto. They just don't understand it."

050

Adam Trotter @astrotter.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

My local farmers market just surprised me with $100 in free SNAP tokens, courtesy of an anonymous donor, in case you need a little glimmer of human decency this morning

051

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Alaina Wood @thegarbagequeen.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Did you know that NOAA has a major office in Asheville? They put together a story map about Hurricane Helene, and it’s the best data resource I’ve seen out there about the storm. I might be a little biased, though, because I have a geography degree and love using GIS to share data.

storymaps.arcgis.com

Helene in Southern Appalachia

One year later: An event analysis and how we move forward.

17114

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Stuart Atkinson @stuartatkinson.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Yesterday Curiosity took pix of jagged peaks in the distance with its ChemCam. I stitched them together, did some work on them, and... just look at that view... I've been doing this since Sojourner landed & this is one of my fave images ever... Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/S Atkinson

1218951

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 21/09/2025

Fellow sober folks, a reminder: However bad things get, you don’t have to drink over it.

36824109

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Tal Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

people who want other people to stay in sad little grey boxes forever and never be happy in their bodies or desires are villains and cowards and they may be winning right now but by god they will lose as water smooths stone and roots break it, because that fierce joy is roots and water and life

111726378

Reposted by Adam Trotter

〚Ẋ〛 @projectendo.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

It's like staying up late to see if Santa is real but we're hoping Santa's dead

423714623

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 12/08/2025

Modern AI tools emulate the classic con-man tricks of mentalism, tricking people into believing that they’re far more clever - and sapient - than they actually are. Fantastic piece by @baldurbjarnason.com : softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llme...

softwarecrisis.dev

The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models rep…

The new era of tech seems to be built on superstitious behaviour

371063443

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Oh so it does have phd level intelligence

583002591

Reposted by Adam Trotter

Tom Snarsky @tomsnarsky.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

happy #smallpoemsunday! 💜 feel free to join by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :) here’s one by Bill Corbett; Peter Reading called this kind of poem the 13-line sonnet for unlucky people—& what an 11th line, “every green thing goldens”

AUGUST

I want to read and nap
and wake fresh to read
some more and further out
there is a raft off which
kids clown and cannonball
and beyond a straggle of
mergansers steam serenely
and then an empty lake
and further still over
all the points and hills
every green thing goldens
and last, clouds press
the mountain’s rough nib.

13310