iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I ran headlong into Claude’s classifiers, and got a gentle downgrade, simply for asking it to put together a fairly vanilla, recurring web/lit search on topics related to AI biorisk.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

That’s a wrap! AMD Day was smaller this year, but it was inspiring beyond words to see everyone, the exciting innovation and the commitment to the mission of public health.

People talking science at a poster session.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

While it might be an epic movie, I’m not sure a 30 year old film reference hits quite right. Especially when people could be forgiven for associating it with another school of thought on pyrotechnic safety. makeagif.com/gif/the-rock...

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Here they both are as they powered up Heartbreak Hill.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Turnstile guy is my spirit animal

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Interesting (to me at least!) to see what goes on under the hood of some of the newer frontier AI models — particularly those that can run off-network and with modest computational specs. Here’s the brand new gemma4 (e4b), reasoning through a clear request to violate bio security guardrails.

Text reasoning and response of the gemma4 (e4b) model responding to a user request to assist in the production of a potential biowarfare agent.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

I think you can find something tasteful at just about any price point. www.swarovski.com/en-US/p-5692...

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

About 10 years ago, I was pretty serious about a position at space biosciences. Got a cool sticker out of it, I guess.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Still kicking with furious energy.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

The energy I’m going into 2026 with.

Picture of a suspicious man feeding a suspicious bear.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

The Pledge to the American People was a foundation for Walter Dowdle’s Mountin lecture in 1990, and it used to be as prominent on our website as this 20ft mural in the lobby of one of our buildings. I used to walk past these words every day, proud that we could rise together with these principles.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Post your last photo of DC to show what a hell-hole it is. (A friendly horse at the Park Police stables on the National Mall).

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

✨ Looking to add something special to your decor? This is your last chance to order FREE Scientific Superhero posters for your home, office, university, or lab from CDC-INFO on Demand. The last day to order is August 15, 2025 before they shut things down. www.cdc.gov/advanced-mol...

AMD Posters for Genomic sequencing, bioinformatics and epidemiology. These posters won a ClearMark award for their design and clarity.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Technology is the best: my sunglasses snapped in half while I was sitting at the beach yesterday afternoon. I learned two things: that metal-looking hinges are often just spray painted cheap plastic, and that I could print a stronger replacement part in the time it took me to reapply sunscreen.

Broken hinge from RB4105. Replacement hinge printed in PETG-CF.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

The May 2025 supplemental issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal is now live: “Advances in Pathogen Genomics for Infectious Disease Surveillance, Control, and Prevention.” wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/articles...

Cover of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/articles/issue/31/13/table-of-contents

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

From last year. C-3PO looks like someone told him a surprising fact.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

I normally never ask celebrities for a selfie. May the fourth be with you. Always.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

The average American has three friends.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Yo, dawg: I hear you like security cameras…

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Anyone know anything about homing pigeons? This one appears to have had a bit of a close encounter with my front window. Seems shaken but unpreturbed.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

And here are some photos of the demolition of Building 1, 3, 5 and 7 from 2012, found around the Internet. Terry Kearns flic.kr/p/bgz34t DHGriffin Construction www.dhgriffin.com/_images/wrec...

Demolition 2012 - Photo credit Terry Kearns https://flic.kr/p/bgz34t

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Here is the bust of the Greek goddess Hygeia being installed in front of Building 1 in 1970, and again in 1976. You can still find it if you look around campus carefully today. phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx... phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx...

Bust of hygiea being installed 1970 https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=1011

Statue of Hygeia in front of Building 1. 1976 https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=17718

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

The name of CDC was changed to the Center for Disease Control in 1970. Shown below is the day the lettering was changed. The new name stuck around until 1992, when CDC was formally renamed to recognize the expansive nature of its prevention work: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Old photograph from 1970 of a crowd, as the lettering on CDC building 1 is changed.

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Here are some photos from the early 1960s, with the original Communicable Disease Center name, and a billboard for the Immunization Assistance Grants Program. stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/50312 phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx... phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx...

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

The building was dedicated in 1960. phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx... phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx... phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx...

CDC Building 1 Dedication Ceremony (1960)

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Within a year, CDC had made a small payment to secure 15 acres on Clifton road, adjacent to Emory University. Construction on Building 1 at the Clifton road campus began in earnest in 1959. phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx... phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx... phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx...

Artistic rendering of CDC Building 1 (1959) https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=7622

CDC Building 1 Construction (1959) https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=2512

Interior shot, construction of CDC Building 1 (1959) https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=2511

Construction of CDC Building 1 (CDC Museum).

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Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Building 1 wasn’t the CDC’s first home - the National Communicable Disease Center, as it became known after the end of WW2 - opened in 1946 and initially occupied a floor at 291 Peachtree Street downtown.

Aimee Wilcox & Laboratory Director, Dr. Seward Miller sit at a microscope in CDC’s early laboratory in downtown Atlanta.

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