iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 16m

my jaw actually dropped 😭🤏

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 1h

Yay! And thank you! I agree, it feels very spooky-themed even though that wasn't my original intention 👻

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 3h

I CAN'T BELIEVE I SAID THE WRONG PLAY 💀 Thank you so much for the gracious correction. My only excuse is that I saw Midsummer and Shrew recently only two days apart so they must have got jumbled in my fingers. I'm so glad you liked the joke and casting, hehe!

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 3h

It's rather obscure: the end of the Kodama jujutsu alt text is "Both look very fierce (though they be but little)," an allusion to "Though she be but little, she is fierce" from The Taming of the Shrew. I'm glad you asked and I'm so happy you enjoy the gumball machine! 😄🤏🦑

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Animal Aspects (Art History Animalia) @animal-aspects.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

For #SquittleDay (squid and cuttlefish day!): “cool shades” #squid in an ancient Roman sea bed mosaic, 2nd c. BCE. Archaeological Museum of Populonia, Piombino, Italy. 😎 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mo... #CephalopodAwarenessDays

Cool squid in an ancient Roman sea bed mosaic - looks like it has sunglasses on its head LOL! (not covering the eyes, which are visible - like if you had your sunglasses resting on top of your head)

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Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

10/10 is Squid and Cuttlefish day or #squittleday, so have some banger squid memes

The Car Salesman Slaps Roof of Car meme: A drawn image of a salesman in a suit explaining to another man who is listening intently. The salesman is gesturing to the egg mass of diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus) floating in the sea. The egg mass is magenta and is a coiled thread of squid eggs, forming a tube that looks not unlike a slinky. Test on top reads: "Squid Egg Salesman: *slaps egg mass* this bad boy can fit so many eggs in it"

A picture of Snoop Dogg (Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.) on the left, and a picture of Bathyteuthis squid (Bathyteuthis sp.) on the right. The squid is reddish orange and has large beady eyes with the pupils dilated. The squid is inking, and the cloud of ink looks like whisps of smoke. Text below both images reads "SNOOP DOGG SAYS ONLY ONE PERSON HAS OUT SMOKED HIM"

A "The cooler Daniel" meme.

There is a year book with two pictures in the centre. The left one is labelled "Daniel" and it is a European common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) swimming on top of seaplants with its arms all pointed down. It is mostly brown and light brown with white on its bottom. The right picture is labelled "The cooler Daniel" and it is a European common cuttlefish in white box wearing red and blue 3D glasses. Its arms are reaching out in front of it with a spread pattern. The cuttlefish is mostly light brown with white at the bottom.

Wizard pondering their orb meme. A wizard with a big bushy beard in grey robers is staring at an orb on an ornatet stone table, except the orb has been replaced with the "squorb" (squid orb), a dead Rough Cranch Squid (Cranchia scabra) found at a beach that has its mantle in a spherical shape. The squorb has been tinted blue to match the original orb's glow. A figure is peering in the distance from a stone doorway.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 6h

Happy belated #Squittleday, October 10th, on which we celebrate the ten-armed squid and cuttlefish! I was in the woods yesterday, but here a few favorites from the archives 🦑🥂 (anyone spot the alt text Shakespeare reference?)

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

This sent me hunting for a worm appreciation day or parasite appreciation day, and I can hardly believe it, but I don't think they exist yet????

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Yesterday!! Ngl I did consider posting some argonauts today, but didn't want to engender confusion...

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Though lesser-known than World Octopus Day, the International Cephalopod Days continue today, October 9th, with #NautilusNight! Here are some nautiluses I've drawn! 🥳

Detailed ink drawing of a large chambered nautilus. Two of its tentacles hang lower than the others, and a small chambered nautilus with a very large cute eye is using those two as a swing.

Simple ink drawing of a colorful carousel with three orange nautiluses in place of the horses.

Simple ink drawing of a brown and orange nautilus holding a purple spotted balloon. The line between two of the nautilus's tentacles curves up to look like a smile.

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MBA Library @nmbluk.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Continuing with the cephalopod love it's #NautilusNight To shell-ebrate we have this beautiful illustration of the shell of the chambered nautilus, taken from the 18th Century book on shells by GW Knorr

Two colored scientific illustrations of nautilus shells in cross-section, showing spiral chambers and handwritten labels.

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Sabrina Imbler @sabs.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

🧪 probably a long shot, but: has anyone heard of a two-headed trout specimen named Cuthbert the Great? the specimen allegedly went to the AMNH in 1940 but the museum has no record of it. trying to track down Cuthbert. www.nytimes.com/1944/08/13/a...

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Thank you so much! and you're welcome! :D

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

oh my goodness I love these characters immediately

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Some favorite octopuses I've drawn to celebrate #WorldOctopusDay

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

awww thank you so much for sharing these, Gwen! ❤️🐙 Happy World Octopus Day!

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Ok ok. Beak would be acceptable, also those weird remnants in cirrate octopuses

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S.S. Julian @octopolis.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Happy World Octopus Day! To celebrate, here’s the first piece in my series of Octopolis tarot cards: The Fool! #octopolis #worldoctopusday #octopus #tarot

$A digital illustration within a tarot card frame titled ‘The Fool’. The images is of a mimic octopus bursting through the surface of the ocean into a sunlit day. The octopus is covered in many colored stripes. It holds one arm up through which light refracts. In another arm it holds a bundle of kelp. Beneath the water is a yellow cuttlefish looking very happy.$

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

the ONLY acceptable octopus skeleton to display this halloween

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SAHASA 🐙🪸 @sculptedreef.com · 08/10/2026

HAPPY WORLD OCTOPUS DAY Bsky!!! 🐙 🐡🦑 We're celebrating 🥳 🎉 with 5% to 20% off, auto applied in your cart: sculptedreef.com #BSNM #WorldOctopusDay

A vibrant red clay octopus sculpture depicting the species Callistoctopus luteus, also known as the starry night octopus.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

*My minor contributions to how cool it looks consisted of 1) selecting extremely cool species to profile, like the Star-Sucker Pygmy Octopus, and 2) helping to source some of the photos.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Thanks to the incredible photographers, the publisher's wonderful image sourcing and design team, and negligible* thanks to me, this is suckers-down my most visually-knock-your-socks-off book. And it's on SALE! 🐙🥳 Happy #WorldOctopusDay!

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I can't believe I'm sharing this on World OCTOPUS Day, but the fish tote is that good, folks.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The #inktober2026 prompt "smack" naturally brought to mind a jellyfish collective, and adding a shelled cephalopod to that situation reminded me how modern argonaut octopuses ride jellies. Why couldn't Eoceras have done the same?

Simple ink drawing of a group of four jellyfish. Riding atop the bell of the center jelly is an Eoceras, a tiny ancient shelled cephalopod ancestor.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Fun fact: I did not draw an Eoceras for the #inktober2026 prompt "cactus" but I DID spend way more than my allotted drawing time studying the Shuijingtuo Formation where the fossils were found to determine that cactus do not grow there (tho they have been imported to other parts of China) 🌵🤓

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Catching up with #inktober2026 day 3: miniature! Another perfect fit for Eoceras the dawn cephalopod 🤏

Simple ink drawing of a six-sided die with Eoceras shaangxiense, a very early shelled cephalopod ancestor, perched on top.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Eoceras shaangxiense is a 520-million-year-old relic, making today's #inktober2026 prompt a piece of cake

Simple ink drawing of the word EOCERAS above a fossil Eoceras shell. The shell expands to the left; the word expands to the right. They fit together into a rough rectangle.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I'm obsessed with the newly discovered most ancient cephalopod, Eoceras shaangxiense. She is 0.05 apples tall #inktober2026

Simple ink drawing of an apple with an extremely tiny shelled cephalopod beside it.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

That's a great question! I haven't seen a source for the assertion of the other possible identity of the person in the photo--do you know where it came from? All the sources I read/interviewed consider it to be JVP.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This biography is for children, yes, but I wrote the book that I, an adult, wanted to read, so it's really for everyone: lernerbooks.com/shop/show/21... Jeanne's birthday is a great day to celebrate going for very long walks, defying expectations, building wacky contraptions, and OCTOPUSES!

lernerbooks.com

The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology

Born in a small village in eighteenth-century France, Jeanne Villepreux wasn’t expected to transform marine science. Curious, creative, and clever, Jeanne ventured to Paris by foot as a teenager.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

lernerbooks.com

The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology

Born in a small village in eighteenth-century France, Jeanne Villepreux wasn’t expected to transform marine science. Curious, creative, and clever, Jeanne ventured to Paris by foot as a teenager.

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In conclusion, this has finally motivated me to go and correct her birthdate in Wikipedia 😅 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_... I haven't edited anything else on the page, though as the author of Jeanne's longest biography, I probably should comb through it at some point...

en.wikipedia.org

Jeanne Villepreux-Power - Wikipedia

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Well, I've interviewed the founder and other members of the Jeanne Villepreux-Power Association and I trust their scholarship, and their biography says it's September 25: jeanne-villepreux-power.org/sa-vie/sa-vi... Or, we can have fun with date converters: www.napoleon-empire.org/en/republica...

jeanne-villepreux-power.org

Sa vie plus en détail

Cet article donne un résumé de la vie de Jeanne Villepreux Power

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

So Jeanne's birthday was 4 Vendémiaire de l'An 3, the fourth day of the first month (Vendémiaire refers to the grape harvest) of the third year. 🥳 But uh... how do we translate that to the good ol' Gregorian calendar?

French Revolutionary Calendar VENDÉMIAIRE 22 Septembre: à cette époque arrive l'EQUINOXE D'AUTOMNE & commence l'Année de l'Ere Nouvelle Après avoir mûri les deux fruits de l'automne Au signe de Thémis pâlit l'Astre du Jour VERTUMNE plus épris des charmes de POMONE Cent fois change de forme & suit son seul amour. Tresca, Salvatore (Graveur) – Lafitte, Louis (Dessinateur du modèle)

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Jeanne was born during the French Revolution, shortly after the debut of the French Republican Calendar--part of the Republic's enormous project to secularize and decimalize everything. The first year of the republic became Year 1, and the months were renamed based on nature...

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Happy birthday, Jeanne Villepreux-Power! This octopus scientist and aquarium inventor was born #OTD September 25th, 1794! However, many lovely tributes were posted yesterday, because her birthday has often been erroneously published as September 24th. Why? Let's geek out about calendars...

A grayscale digital drawing of Jeanne Villepreux-Power, slightly more than a bust--head, shoulders, crossed arms. She is smiling contentedly and perhaps a little smugly. In a stylized circle around her are all the animals she studied: snail, marten, butterfly, turtle, sea star, and of course the octopuses--common octopus and argonaut, both male and female. It was drawn by me (Danna Staaf).

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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

French marine biologist Jeanne Villepreux-Power invented the first glass aquarium for scientific study in 1832. Her sealed tanks (with aeration & water stability) enabled live observation of sea creatures, which was revolutionary in marine research. She was born #OTD in 1794. #WomenInSTEM

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Ceryl @politicdormouse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Jeanne Villepreux-Power French marine biologist, worked in Sicily. 1832 1st person to invent aquaria for studying marine life, still used today. Cephalopods researcher. Dressmaker, author, conservationist, 1st woman in Accademia Gioenia di Catania b. #OTD 24 Sep 1794 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_...

Manuscript written by Jeanne Villepreux-Power #WomenInSTEM #HistSTM #HistSTEM

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Greg Priest @gregpriest.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The pioneering aquarist Jeanne Villepreux-Power was born OTD in 1794. She was the first to record that some species of octopuses could use tools to pry open their prey's shells. She observed them waiting for the clam to open its shell and then jamming In a rock. 🌱🐋🧪 #HistSTM #WomeninSTEM

Lino block print of Jeanne Villepreux-Power by @minouette.bsky.social

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Springer Nature @springernature.com · 24/09/2026

#OnThisDay in 1794, Jeanne Villepreux-Power was born. Known as the "Mother of Aquariophily," she created the first experimental aquaria and used them to show that argonaut octopuses make their own shells, helping advance the study of marine life. 🌊🐙

Sepia photo of Jeanne Villepreux-Power in a Victorian dress leaning on a pedestal with a chalice. Text: 'Did You Know? Jeanne Villepreux-Power developed three different types of aquaria, including one that could be lowered into the sea to observe marine organisms in near-natural conditions.'

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Principia @principiamagazine.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Empezó como modista. Terminó inventando acuarios para investigar animales marinos y convirtiéndose en pionera de la biología marina. Jeanne Villepreux-Power nació un día como hoy de 1794. Ilustración: Ana Buquerin. 👉 principia.io/2020/09/24/n... #ciencia #MujeresDeCiencia

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