iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

You can’t fool me. That’s a fucking beet. 🫜 I’m onto those tricky bastards. “Oh no, I am beautiful and leafy, please call me Chard.” <pulls off mask> BEET GREENS “Oh, help, I am a niche heirloom mangelwurzel.” YOU ARE DIRT IN A DESCEPTIVELY VEGETAL PACKAGE, AND I WILL NOT SUCCUMB TO YOUR WILES.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Back to the mundane world after another FANTASTIC Dragon Con (woo Science Track! @dconscitrack.bsky.social) Thank you to all the contributors, fans, and volunteers who make it all amazing.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This is just to say I have pitched the toad that was In the icebox And which you were probably saving for necropsy Forgive me it was disgusting So flat and so rank.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This week has been brutal for the loss of cultural heavyweights. I loved the Kusama exhibits I’ve been able to see, and I always thought of her when admiring fish ovaries. I really think she’d have dug them.

A microscope field of variously-sized pink and purple dots. These are ovarian follicles from a sunfish (Lepomis spp) in different stages of development. They are beautiful and organic and remind me of Kusama’s dot-based art.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Today I learned it’s not actually normal to have 5-6 in diameter local swelling for a week following a wasp sting, and I should probably talk to a doctor about my terrible wasp luck. Sweartogawd, I legit thought that’s why people hate wasps.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Today in “People ask me random weird questions, because I am their Trusted EsotericaMonger™️”: What color is the fat of a titi monkey? Now, critters can have a variety of hues to their fat based on species, diet, or when they ate last, but in case you ever need to know… a titi’s fat is orange.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

An incomplete list of items I have proposed to my spouse with: A smol pinecone A majestic tree A golden leaf A worm snake An especially rotund acorn A confused salamander Many nice rocks (no gems but several fossils) A shiny fish scale A serpent’s fang

My hands, offering up a young worm snake for admiration in one of my many proposals to my spouse. (The snake was then released unharmed back to its rock.)

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

You would think they like each other 💜. They mostly do, but Miles can be annoying enough that he gets his whiskers chewed on. Without having been there, I 💯 know that he found his buddy and forcibly initiated the cuddle, rather than the other way around.

Two sleeping cats, cuddled with their faces pressed together. The near one is mostly white with a few grey spots and short whiskers. The other one is mostly black with some dashing white splotches. The few whiskers visible on the tuxedo cat are long and luxurious.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I, personally, do not know anything about Denver Zoo or any of their recent losses. I will say, it is generally a good sign when a zoo is honest about disclosing deaths, even when folks have questions. Denver is one of the few zoos in the country that has an on-site staff pathologist.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Thanks for the reminder, Bethany. For everyone who has voting representation in Congress (not us in DC), PLEASE reach out to your reps!

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Today I was told by my boss* that my method of breaking down a carcass was “weirdly impressive, you folded up the whole thing like you were breaking down a cardboard box.” Y’all, if you ever wanna flatter a pathologist. ⤴️ *a clinician, not a pathologist

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

The Office Isopods did a really lovely job cleaning this tiny northern short-tailed shrew skull. Note the red-enameled teeth, from iron pigment. This species of shrew is the largest we have around here. Also it’s venomous! Shrew bites can be pretty nasty (though unlikely fatal for humans).

A tiny skull about 2 cm long. The incisors are pointy and tipped with a dark red-brown.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Gave a talk today at a the American Society for Microbiology conference, and dang if everyone else in the session had just the wildest coolest SCIENCE, and I was basically the comic relief. Don’t get me wrong, I’m FANTASTIC comic relief, but I was so impressed by everyone’s work.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Apparently someone wrote a book about our cats. 😂 Can’t wait to read it.

A book titled Bromantasy by Máire Roche. The tagline reads, “Two heroes. One brain cell.”
The cover art is a bright, animated style depicting two guys on a horse, bareback. The man in front has dark hair and beard and light brown skin, he’s holding aloft a golden sword and wearing a dashing hat. The man behind him is pale and clean shaven with short auburn hair. He is wielding a butterfly net. There is a loaded ginger cat in the bottom right corner and a dragon head menacing from the top right. There’s a cute cottage in the background.

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Leah @leah.myatproto.social · 27/05/2026

Not only do we need to rebuild public health systems (challenge level: pure pain). We have to concurrently build a new system to keep people constantly reminded and engaged about WHY we need to maintain public health. #MedSky 🩺 Programs like this are a must. hcrl.wustl.edu

hcrl.wustl.edu

Home

Health Communication Research laboratory

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I love these random herp questions asked me in the last week: 1) How hard is it to get into a turtle? 2) Do crocodiles hiccup? 3) Can you help me sex some frogs?

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

I need this, but with, like, hooves or something. 😻

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Sorry I was out so late last night, babe. I didn’t plan on staying that long, but it turned out they were really into salamanders, and yanno….

Photo of a Desmognathus salamander on a mossy rock. Unlike most members of this genus, this one has almost no brown/black pigment and is yellow with orange splotches on the back. Best guess is it’s leucistic dusky salamander, but that common name gets applied to several in this genus, and I’m not awesome at telling them apart. Also, several species can hybridize.
Photo credit: Brian Gratwicke
If you like amphibians, you need to see his Flickr.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Granulomatous Suppurative Lymphoplasmacytic Eosinophilic Hemorrhagic Necrotizing

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Brilliant and revolutionary. Libraries are such amazing investments in humanity. What an amazing way to support kids AND teachers AND families. I hope there are field trips to libraries that get them absolutely stoked about everything they can explore with this resource!

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

For anyone else playing Cursed Bingo at home, this is one of the most thorough and best supported guides I’ve ever come across.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Biscuits and gravy. It’s a terrible thing to do to a biscuit, and not a particularly nice thing to do to …whatever you made that gravy from. I get it. When what you’ve got is flour, this is a thing you can make, but <gently pushes away the plate> no thank you. I’ll have my biscuits with butter.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Come for the occasional science rants, stay for the adorable former street cat pics.

Photo by my spouse of Miles, a white and gray shorthair cat with a blue eye, an opaque white eye, and a tipped ear. He has a somewhat derpy concerned expression with a blep of tongue sticking out. I had just walked out of the room, and he has questions.

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Upside Downie @adownie.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Fuck SpaceX Fund NASA

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Bob Clint @clinto.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Spot on:

"Just remember that given the abundance of neurodivergent people in science, it's far more likely that autism causes vaccines."

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

I made an owl sound in the house, and it was TOO REAL. My tuxedo cat has puffed up to the size of a corgi and left the room in a blaze of Absolutely The Fuck Not.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Uh. I have SEVERAL concerns. 😬

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The Midnight Society @midnightpals.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

instead of watching the new harry potter trailer, why not pick up some horror books by trans and nb writers for the trans rights readathon?? there are so many good options. For example, check out some of these writers:

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Oh heck yeah! This is rad, the author is excellent, and the cause is outstanding!

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Today I met a multi-classed adventure-arachnid! Swords-bard druid? Bard-barian? I’m not sure, but they were living dangerously in a doorway and needed to be removed to continue their campaign in the leaf litter.

A screenshot from the organism ID app Seek noting that I’ve observed a Drumming Sword Wolf Spider for the first time. There are two photos, the one on the left has a robust grey spider with black stripes on a cement background (todays friend) on the right is a reference photo of a browner version with a similar build.
The bottom of the screen has a green button to view species and a second light green button with a camera icon.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

TIL the word “goosander”, and it brought me joy. Thank you, random wildlife photographer, for the lovely bird and the delightful word.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Anyone who has heard my pro-vaccine rants has also heard my fears about polio resurgence. This would kill and paralyze people, mostly kids. One of the scariest things about measles is that it can reduce your protection against things you’re already vaccinated against. Measles is just the beginning.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

And as a reminder: physical media>>Libby>Hoopla for library budgets. Now is a great time to check something out! Don’t read? Most libraries have DVD and music collections and many have puzzles, games, or tools!

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Jen @ladyjenpool.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you: Our funding depends on usage. So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I especially wonder about the effect of people who were giving birth, not dying of sepsis, and able to have more kids (more births) vs kids who survived to adulthood who otherwise wouldn’t have. Obviously both happened, but which was a stronger effect? More importantly, great chart.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Immediately added this to my Steam wishlist.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work. “No whole, live things.”

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

For me, it’s chocolate cake. Someone had all the ingredients to make brownies and chose violence. Do not @ me with your weak excuses about the platonic ideal of chocolate cake being nice to eat. The best chocolate cake struggles to compete with a bog standard brownie. Life’s hard. Make brownies.

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Acerbic Otter, but SPOOOOOOOOOKY @acerbicotter.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

"We've secretly replaced Punxatawney Phil with an American Badger. We'll see if they notice" (Sounds of badger violence) "uh.....yeah.....looks like they did"

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

It’s Groundhog Day! Groundhogs (aka woodchucks) are members of the squirrel family of rodents. They’re one of the chonky ground squirrels in the genus Marmota (marmots). In 2010, Alaska began celebrating Feb 2 as “Marmot Day” to celebrate all 3 native marmots in Alaska instead of solely groundhogs.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

If you're living in frozen conditions right now, post the must summery picture in your photo library.

Me, in a hat, sunglasses and tank top that reads “Take notes, boys”. I’m holding a sizable bright orange shelf fungus, chicken of the woods. I’m clearly delighted and have been caught mid-yawp with a ridiculously large open mouth for exclaiming in joy.
That thing was delicious.

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Libro.fm @libro.fm · 26/01/2026

Mutual Aid by Dean Spade is free on Libro for the next week (until 2/2). We know that books can't fix everything, but they can help us show up for and strengthen our communities. Our employee book club read this last year, leading to a great discussion. We hope that it helps others do the same 💗 ⏬

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

I don’t think I’ve ever needed a star/Torx screwdriver, but I’m so glad I had one in my office toolbox when the water fountain in the hall started POURING water and we needed to get to the shutoff valve. I’m a little damp, but the flood has stopped.

My hand holding a screwdriver head with a business end shaped like a six-pointed star.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Every time I see cool science with people doing postmortem exams on defrosted Ice Age mammals, I’m like… <waves hands> HEY! IF ANYONE WANTS A ZOO PATHOLOGIST TO HELP WITH THAT, PLEASE CALL ME, OMG, SERIOUSLY, I WOULD BE SO DELIGHTED.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

‘Round here we have a healthy respect for the wolf-bird. I remember once reading about a bald eagle that had made the poor decision to go for a loonchick snack too close to loonparent. Per the eagle’s autopsy report, cause of death was loon bill STAB THROUGH THE HEART.

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 08/06/2023

Unsettling 🧪 fact! Tiger salamanders have a “cannibal morph.” Yepper, sometimes larval tiger salamanders get competitive & develop into their Pokémon battle-variant beast mode. Bigger heads, more developed teeth, teeth in the roof of the mouth. And then they hunt smaller typical larvae. 😳

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Reader of Entrails @haruspex.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Yesterday, I received a white-throated sparrow (white-striped), and the everyone in the office learned about the non-sexual dimorphism of this bird and its mating dynamics thanks to that time @tkingfisher.com wowed an auditorium with ornithological truth bombs at @panic.gay’s Solve for X.

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Butt teeth! Butt teeth! Butt teeth! @panic.gay · 22/11/2025

I am also known to nerd out about ostrich penises when drinking. @haruspex.bsky.social and @dianeakelly.bsky.social can attest to that 😂

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