iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Smart Alyk @smartalyk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

DAY 478 SPECIES 478 - Tintinnopsis campanula STAGE: Protists MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek & HWC watercolor, Sakura pen T. campanula is a single celled planktonic ciliate shaped like a bell. #sciart #watercolor #paint #protist #eukaryotic #protistsonsky

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Smart Alyk @smartalyk.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

DAY 479 SPECIES 479 - Stentor roeselii STAGE: Protists MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek watercolor, Sakura pen S. roeselii is a trumpet shaped freshwater protist. Found globally in still or slow moving freshwater habitats. #sciart #watercolor #paint #protist #eukaryotic #protistsonsky

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Joe Mason @moreorloess.bsky.social · 2h

Wisconsin Central Sand Plain finally wins MinCup.

View across the western part of the central sand plain of Wisconsin, a landscape of thin sandy soils over quartz-rich sandstone bedrock. The landscape is forest covered, in fall color, with small hills in the distance.

Top of a small bluff of Cambrian sandstone, with a rock outcrop surrounded by birch trees and a mix of forest and open land in the distance. There is snow on the ground.

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Ronnie H 🇺🇸 @ronicats.bsky.social · 13h

𝗧𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘆’𝘀 “𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻” 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟯 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝘁. Tiffany’s report from yesterday claims he “fundraised” $26 million this quarter, but 92% of the money he “raised” came from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks alone.𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 $𝟮𝟰 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝟯 𝙋𝙀𝙊𝙋𝙇𝙀.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 14h

Congratulations, Quartz! After a decade of #MinCup, this key rock-forming mineral of optical tricks is the #MinCup26 Champion! Due to intense manipulation attempts in the final hours, the exact winning margin is still being audited. Please join us tomorrow for celebration!

A clear double-terminated quartz crystal with petroleum inclusions. Credit: John Sobolewski

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 13h

Apologies … this might be Wonewoc Formation. Is there a Doctor of Geology on board? The Rockd app initially said Eau Claire, but I just tried a more precise pin. Complicated. Is the photographed sand former beach sand? Please send help.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 16h

Probably not as exciting as a large crystal clear #quartz crystal. But here’s a photo of sand eroded from the Eau Claire formation behind the Culver’s restaurant in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Vote #Quartz! And now I want fried cheese curds! #MinCup26

Photograph of largely colorless sand grains. Afocal, approximately 18x.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Cranberry Gneiss, Mesoproterozoic, 1.05 Ga; Appalachian Mt.s, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Gneiss is a metamorphic rock that high temp & pressure have caused the minerals in granite to separate into light & dark bands. The light bands are quartz. #MinCup26 #QuartzDeservesToWin

A banded rock with bands of dark mineral and white quartz.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

New Fun Fact for Me … Slugs disperse fungus and moss spores. And the spores can start germinating inside the slug. And passage through a slug can accelerate growth and establishment of mycorrhizae. Thanks for the photo and inspiring a deep dive into the literature!

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Dots and Lines @dotsandlines.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's time! #MineralCup finals are now! On this tenth year of the Mineral Cup, the mineral that started it all deserves a win. #Quartz for #MinCup26!

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Opinion Editor @ Bluesky @dly.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"what do you expect to happen? have every rapist fired from their job and ruin their life?" uh yeah that'd be a good start

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Sqril @sqril.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 Semifinals 2 There are so many great posts on both options! Team #Quartz bc GPS. Time is the 4th variable in GPS calcs so accuracy is impt. Quartz based GPS receivers (that can sync to atomic time) are cost effective options for navigation systems. www.cnlucki.com/how-precisio...

cnlucki.com

How Precision Quartz Oscillators Improve GPS and Navigation Systems

Learn how precision quartz oscillators improve GPS and navigation systems through stable timing, accurate synchronization, and reliable frequency control solutions.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Two faves for both my art or physics voting scheme, but I have always been #TeamQuartz #MinCup26! Quartz has been carved, used in pigments & the preparation of canvases since antiquity. 20% of the crust & representative elastic moduli, piezoelectricity & its role in clocks, electronics, GPS!

My mini linocut with quartz crystals and word “Quartz” in script in slate grey. Some of the facets of the crystals are printed onto collaged iridescent translucent paper so they have a pink to pale blue sheen.

This small linocut represents the chemical element Silicon, with its diamond cubic crystal structure shown in silver. Its symbol, atomic number and a couple of its forms are shown in lilac. Silicon is common in the Earth's crust in, especially in silicate minerals like the quartz crystals shown in each corner. The seafloor is litered with microscopic radialarians, which build their amazing skeletons with biogenic silica. Four such creatures circle the symbol for Silicon on the periodic table. The print is one of an edition of 14, each 6" x 6" (15.2 cm x 15.2 cm) printed on Japanese kozo paper.

Rembrandt, A Young Lady Smiling
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Medium: Oil
Support: Oak panel
Size: 52.4 x 44 cm
Art period: Baroque
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (State Art Gallery Dresden)
Gallery Nr 1556
Image credit: The Rembrandt Database, normal light studies: photograph, overall (front), 2005, (record number 15550); Rembrandt Bust of a young woman smiling possibly Saskia van Uylenburgh, dated 1633, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, inv./cat. no. 1556
The sitter was most probably Rembrandt’s wife Saskia van Uylenburgh.

Contains Quartz via Colourlex.

The strawberry blonde in big red hat and blue dress looks over her shoulder to smile at the viewer.

Title: Chalcedonic quartz seal set in a gold ring
Period: Late Classical
Date: 4th century BCE
Culture: Greek
Medium: Quartz, brown paste, gold
Dimensions: Length: 13/16 in. (2 cm)
Classification: Gems
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1923
Object Number: 23.160.72
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

Bacchic demon, half lion, half winged satyr carved into chalcedonic quartz seal in a gold ring via The Met

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Quartz is a common mineral, with some very important and uncommon properties. One is piezoelectricity. When quartz is squeezed, it generates an electric charge. Together, quartz and earthquakes can promote the formation of gold nuggets, that can be quite large. #Quartz #MinCup26

Native gold wrapped around white quartz.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 Semifinal 2 It’s a match sure to break hearts between industrial powerhouses piezoelectric #quartz and lubricating #graphite! (With the correct links this time!) VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo between a pair of glassy-clear terminated quartz crystals and flaky blades of dark grey graphite at odd angles to each other, with green crystals around them.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

#MinCup26 SEMI-FINALS!!! It's showdown of the soft and cubical as coppery #Cuprite and salty #Halite compete for a spot in the finals! Both are worthy, but only one can have your vote. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of a translucent deep red cube of cuprite within swooping matte blue-green crystal blades and a scattering of translucent white halite cubes in a nest of golden yellow spiky crystals.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I don’t think lowering fuel economy standards will lower cost of gasoline and diesel. GOP again shows inability to grasp basic economic principles.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Bree Watching for ground squirrels.

Photo of red/white border collie sitting behind a window. Ears up, tongue out. There is a reflected scene of a garden … marigolds sprouting from her head.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 4 Linked by archaic translations and mineralogical misunderstandings, the quarterfinals are ending in hexagons with vivid pyromorphite vs writeable graphite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo between translucent lemon-yellow hexagonal crystal jutting out of a mass of shiny black bubbling minerals and metallic silver graphite hexagon with crosshatched surface set even within a matte translucent white rough crystal mass.

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Dots and Lines @dotsandlines.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

#Halite may just be one of the most sung-about minerals. Let's build a #HalitePlaylist! First up: Shawneetown by The Longest Johns "Whisky's in the jug, boys, and wheat’s in the sack We'll trade 'em down to Shawneetown, and we'll bring the rock salt back" #MinCup

m.youtube.com

Shawneetown | The Longest Johns

YouTube video by The Longest Johns

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Dots and Lines @dotsandlines.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

You know what? Okay. Let's play it like that. #MinCup26 is for the classics.

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themeteoriteman.bsky.social @themeteoriteman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Wilkes Land crater: A 315 miles wide crater in Antarctica's gravitational field have been proposed as having many possible origins for the gravity anomaly. The latest evidence suggests the subglacial hole is an impact crater. www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

livescience.com

This giant hole beneath Antarctica could be the 'greatest impact crater known' on Earth

Researchers have proposed many origins for a gravity anomaly in Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, but the latest evidence suggests the subglacial hole is an impact crater measuring 315 miles across.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Perfect song for today … mowing the lawn, next take Bree for a walk, then going to harvest beans, maybe some laundry, then bundle cardboard for recycling. It’s actually a good day. Beautiful weather. Why would I need more?

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Marie van Staveren @chemdrv.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Me yesterday: quartz is so boring, I'm voting for the other one. Me today: omg salt is everywhere so it needs to win! #mincup

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Water and organic molecules trapped inside extraterrestrial halite crystals … 😮 Old news, apparently, but learning something new to me and fascinating every day by following #MinCup26. www.vice.com/en/article/t...

vice.com

These Stunning Blue Alien Crystals Contain Water and Organic Molecules

Asteroids have been spitballing life juice at each other for billions of years, and we have the receipts.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

pshaw, those inclusions are babies, less than a billion years old. There are fluid inclusions in halite in meteorites - liquid water from the dawn of the solar system! Vote #halite

Halite (blue) crystals in Monahans (a) and Zag(b) H chondrites.

$Aqueous fluid inclusions in Monahans halite crystals, viewed in transmitted light. (a) Secondary fluid inclusions, probably along healed fractures. (b–d) Probable primary inclusions. V, vapour; L, liquid. The 10 µm scale bar applies to all images.$

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

In the dark and silent deep, Where the ancient oceans sleep, Crystalline and fiercely bright, Wakes the cubic form of light. #Halite, born of sun and sea, Bound in perfect symmetry. The Salt of the Earth #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

White cubic halite stalactites. From Mindat: https://www.mindat.org/photo-427956.html

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Dots and Lines @dotsandlines.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

In baking, the salt makes the flavor And in sauerkraut, saves it for later Radish kimchi is swell Saladitos as well And I'm still searchin' for my lost shaker #halite #MinCup #MinPoem #limerick

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The insects love the New England asters so much, it’s downright crowded. 🐡🦋

Orange sulfur butterfly on New England asters

Common eastern bumblebee in New England aster

Red-legged grasshopper and bicolour sweat bee on New England asters

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Don’t forget to look up!

Photo of fluffy white clouds against blue sky.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Lycoperdon curtisii season … assuming I correctly identified it. Cute.

Photo of a cluster of small bright white puffballs.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Choose love. Let go of hate. Most of wars were started by people long dead, as in centuries ago. Seriously, we could all have more if we work together and let the old empires die.

Photo of a bright yellow prairie flower. Some Little Bluestem around it.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

perfect day so lucky to live here

Photo of partly cloudy blue sky over gently rolling Autumn grassland landscape.

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The English Oak Project @thekentacorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Nature is not a place to visit. It is our home

Winnie the Pooh & Christopher Robin inspect a hollow oak

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 2 Both of today's minerals can be found in hydrothermal vein deposits as cobalt arsenide #Skutterudite is against classic silicate #Quartz for a spot in the semi-finals. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

mineralcup.org

Vote in Quarterfinal 2 — Mineral Cup & Ore Cup

Vote in Skutterudite vs Quartz Credit: Joel Williams

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I firmly believe that if there were a Democratic administration, GOP House and Senate would be calling for investigations and resignations.

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Okay southwest Dane County Wisconsin people … I need to know why there are frequent low-flying jets — sound like they’re powering engines up or down — flying over my house at all hours. They’re scaring Bree, who seems to constantly think there’s a thunderstorm approaching. 🤬

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James Hemp @cyan0bacteria.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

They will definitely not learn. Imagine if we decided to spend >$1T a year on actual STEM.

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Ben Maas @masbenmaas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Dam good content

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Joe Mason @moreorloess.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

We just decided it was all you people who asked Clippy for help that got us on this slippery slope to AI ending the world.

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