iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Bernini's elephant has already been repaired. A piece of tusk was attached with 24 hour epoxy. I am going down tonight to see if the plastic is off it. #RomanVandalism

070

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

My current crusade is against Bad Dolphins. These are NOT dolphins. In other news, an idiot broke the tusk off Bernini's elephant! Seen here pre-break.

021

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I used PolyCam and an iPhone to capture and process images of a bad dolphin at the Pantheon fountain. Low res print on a BambuLabs H2C. Very happy with the results.

060

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I call these things bad dolphins. Scholars have identified them as dolphins, but clearly they have never seen a dolphin. These are chimeras with som dolphin and quite a lot of actinopterygian fish and some sanctification. Which ain't illegal, but it's not a dolphin. Palazzo Massimo. 🧪

A mosaic from the 1st century CE of an aquatic creature with the snout of a dolphin and the operculum and fins of a ray finned fish.

3265

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Palazzo Massimo has the Villa Giulia frescos, fish mosaics AND frescos, and excellent bronzes. This boxer reminds me of my friend Jon Armbruster.

050

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Another awesome 4th century BCE fish plate. This one from the Capitoline museum. I am calling it the dangerous fish plate because I think the fishes are the electric ray Torpedo torpedo and the Greater Weever Tracinus draco. 🧪

A small round plate with two bony fish and a ray.

06112

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

I am starting to settle in to the studio space. Bambulabs H2C is up and running. Usual test print of a spiny lumpsucker, but this one has color! 🐡🧪

1234

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Here is a 400BCE plate from souther Italy for serving fish. Three species of sparids (sea bream) are shown. Sea bream were among the first farmed fish this plate represents a common group of species from that area. 🧪🐡

Bottom surface of the other picture showing no fishes.

27624

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

File these under things that inspire imposter syndrome! Getting an orientation to the American Academy in Rome where Katie Ohle and I will be resident prize winners until June.

1130

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

First Roman fish. Part of the base of the fountain at the Pantheon. What species I wonder?

260

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

We made it! Jet jag is going to exact a terrible price. But, we are here in one of the greatest cities. Rome! Show me your fishes!

080

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

My daughter's REU essays were great fun to go through. She has always been an invert person despite her dad. She went to the FHL Invert Ball as a trochophore larva. She had me write trochophore in sharpie on her forehead so she would not have to explain herself. 🐡🧪

A five year old girl dressed in balloons to imitate a trochophore larva.

5624

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Heading out of Seattle toward Rome, following the well prepared spare who will keep me company for the first month. It is always nice to see the fish in the floor of SEATAC. A good start for this fishing expedition.

040

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Summer courses at Friday Harbor Labs have launched many scientific careers. Including mine. I was more reluctant to leave at the end of the course than other students. I promise you will have fun and learn more than you can imagine. fhl.uw.edu/courses/cour... 🧪

01516

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Want to do a postdoc at Friday Harbor Labs? We have two positions open. Apply by March 1st. I am happy to discuss potential projects with fish people. apply.interfolio.com/180092 🧪

A view of Friday Harbor Labs dock in the early morning with blowing sea fog in the background.

13031

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Just dropped my PhD advisor and her husband in Seattle. Off to Rome shortly. Last flight in Juliet until June! Longest I have gone without flying. Friends will fly her to keep the oil stirred. Maybe even @embiotoca.bsky.social !

130

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Had fun talking fossils with Mike Gottfried and added a Jawzall slide to my talk so @whitenacklab.bsky.social and @kacorn.bsky.social got a shout out.

250

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

It was a bit chilly in Michigan, but MSU was fabulous. I got to talk with great folks and learned new weird things. Aflagellate sperm in knifefish! Cold departure before dawn yesterday put me in Seattle for a nice flight home to the island.

051

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

East Lansing has snow! Talk tomorrow and today I'm meeting people.

010

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Super excited to head to Michigan State to give a talk! My leg is done, now the pros take over.

160

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

The result of a reconstruction of the Aspasma ubauo looks like this... 🧪🐡

1286

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Now I reverse the process and get this little guy back into his tube for a FedEx ride back to Texas. 🧪 The reconstruction will be tomorrow, as will the results of the second scan.

041

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

The scanner has poor predictive capabilities. The scan was supposed to be done at noon. 8% left at 2:30. Might not get the package back in the FedEx. Last scan is the tail. The several partials will be reconstructed in the nRecon software.

130

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

This operation uses a lot of heat seal stuff. The specimen needs to be damp or curators get mad. It needs to not move or scan reconstruction is sad. So, foamed melamine hold the specimen, poly bag seals in the ETOH, and the can keeps everything from moving. 🧪

Previous specimen now partially sealed into a bag

Forceps squeezing the specimen bag and foam for insertion into the can.

The specimen bag is now in the narrowest can. It will allow 5um scanning

The scan can sitting on top of the scanner. Just for a photo, that is too warm for storage.

050

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

While waiting I will get the little guy in a can. Kevin and Jonathan try not to burden me with facts, but this might be a recently described species. 🧪

A small clingfish on a specimen label that says Parvicrepis sp.

070

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

At 7um this fish will take 6 subscans over 3 hours to finish. When it is done I will rescan with a 10 minute continuous rotation scan in our quest to understand when we need to do stop and shoot versus continuous. 🧪

Interface screen of ct scanner showing resolution and scan parameters.

020

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Not as centered as I want, but at 7um this scan will be plenty high resolution. 🧪

The tail of a fish showing on a ct scanner.

061

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

A trick to scanning with speed is standardized cans. The bas on all of our cans is the same, so there is no need to carefully center between specimens of different size. They are 3d printed.

050

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

The two specimens are 3-fold different in size, so the will get scanned separately. A scan has a fixed voxel size, so critters can share a can if they are similar size. But not if they are not. So, Aspasma ubauo goes into the scanner solo. 🧪

0111

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Fish loan revealed. This is a rush job. They arrived last night and will go home tonight. 🧪

070

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Fire up the Bruker Skysan 1273. It finished last night, so tube warm up is 15 minutes. 🧪

A ct scanner with interface screen showing the start of a tube warm up cycle.

050

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

In real time this is what happens when I need a fish scan. @jmhuie.bsky.social has two species to go in the clinger morphospace. Here they are, fresh from TAMU. 🧪

A sealed cardboard box with fig specimens.

170

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

I have discovered a delightful way to excite the engineering type folks in my lab. A simple set of labels on the build plates for the Prusa SL1S.

181

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Every other summer we run a fish biomechanics course at Friday Harbor Labs. It is an awesome opportunity to learn the tools of biovisualization while experiencing the rich fish diversity of the Salish Sea. Come join us! 🧪

A flyer for a fish biomechanics course at the Friday Harbor Labs this summer.

23329

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

It was a great morning. A hike to Esteban's house to see the Wooly Possums he raised from 30 grams. Amazing animals. Caluromys derbianus #ColombiaMammals 🧪

28620

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Headed to Colombia to meet with Jose Tavera.

050

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

It was a good year for flying. A lot of hours and most spent quite close to home. Over 24k NM. More than around the world.

030

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Hot minnow news! @akpinion.bsky.social and team have FOUR new sand shiners. Tour de force combining morphology and molecules. 56 pages of dense cyprinid science! 🧪 vertebrate-zoology.arphahub.com/article/1560...

0186

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Every other summer we run a post grad fish biomechanics course. Some summers we have cool dissection. A two meter six gill shark just went into the freezer! 🧪

0173

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Antonio the capybara has grown a lot since I saw him last. He was his usual gregarious self. Snuggled anyone who wanted and put up with my examination of the soles of his feet. SciPo was a great success, and the readings tonight will be awesome. #capybara

1292

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

The poets gather under a papier mache sperm whale made from the pages of Moby Dick. The eyes light and the teeth are oysters. Science talks open with Bart Boom and a BIG title.

091

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

@karlycohen.bsky.social explains to the poets about teeth on the ratfish tenaculum. With an aside about cat sharks. And fossil sharks.

0131

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Me too. Here he is as baby. Now 110 pounds!

031

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

I don't think any of the poets are on Bluesky...so you all now know tomorrow's surprise guest. Antonio! Billed as the only captive capybara on San Juan Island.

1180

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

The annual SciPo workshop begins. 80 poets and scientists meet to talk and inspire and scheme. Such great fun.

1112

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Well, Tommy (a UW varsity rower) did not disappoint. A week of CT scanning training and an ability to cadge a seal head lead to these outstanding images. Phoca vitulina in all her glory. 🧪🐡

Left anterolateral view of a harbor seal skull.

Left lateral view of a harbor seal skull.

Right anterolateral view of a harbor seal skull.

0103

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

The students are CT scanning. They managed to cadge a lopped off harbor seal head from the necropsy folks. Tommy was resourceful and he will get splendid data. I'll post the result.

3325

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

I did not grind through the skull to get the brain out of this fish, but the whole animal was just 140kg or so...that whole shark would have been over a metric ton. The skeleton of the only Salish Sea bluefin is now in the Burke Museum!

130

Adam Summers @fishguy.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Here are a couple from your year. The back deck trawling, you are in gray. And, at the same Deadman's field site with Dylan Wainwright and Joe Bizzarro. I think I see Noraida as well.

010