iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 19/08/2026

A study in Nature finds that COVID-19 can reactivate dormant viruses already present in the body. These viral flare-ups can persist after infection and may be linked to long COVID. go.nature.com/45GKJLM #medsky 🧪

This is figure 6, which shows associations between chronic viral reactivation and long COVID.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Our A/C is out. It’s 95 degrees F (feels like 104) outside here in Austin, TX. Sigh.😔

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Finally got to meet @robertmarc.bsky.social at his cidery in Torrey, Utah. Thank you for giving me and my son a private tour of the shop. @bwjones.bsky.social I hope your ears weren’t burning too much.😛

A group photo with a gray haired Caucasian man in a black T-shirt, an Asian teen boy, and a middle aged Asian man in front of a refrigerated drink case.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

It's Father's Day today, and I want to share how parenting changed me. Becoming a parent broke me. Because I was operating under a rigid mindset with unreasonable expectations about myself and what parenting should look like. My plan was always "just optimize X and work harder". (1/8)

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

A view of double rainbow against the pink-purple sky on Thursday. Austin, Texas.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

My tired and sleepy son: Cookies are baked goods, right? So, if they got burned, are they baked bads?

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I started my morning commute today in this light.

A photo of the early morning sky where mostly cloudy Eastern sky is lit up into an orange to purple gradient by the rising sun.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Gary Hershorn @garyhershorn.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

One hour after the Artemis rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a mission to the moon, the full Pink Moon rises behind the Empire State Building in New York City, Wednesday evening.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Good morning from foggy Austin, Texas.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

鏡開きが近いので、お汁粉を作りました。今年のあんこはまあまあの出来です。

Shiruko (しるこ), a Japanese dish made with mochi in sweet red bean soup, in a red and black bowl.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

My recent encounter with a Barred Owl (Strix varia). On my way to work last week, I noticed it sunbathing on a tree branch and being harassed by a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Must have gotten too close to the nest or something. #photography #birds 📸🪶

Barred Owl (Strix varia), perched on a tree branch, looks straight towards the camera.

Barred Owl (Strix varia), perched on a tree branch, closes its eyelids as it is attacked from behind by a blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata). There is another blue jay on a branch higher than the owl's.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Prof. Keiko Torii @keikoutorii.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Tenure-Track Plant Biology Assistant Professor position at UT Austin MBS. Review of the applications starts Nov. 1! Please spread the words🤠🌱🌼🌽🫛🍃🌾 jobs.plantae.org/jobs/2176440...

jobs.plantae.org

Assistant Professor in Austin, TX for The University of Texas at Austin

Exciting opportunity in Austin, TX for The University of Texas at Austin as a Assistant Professor

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

This was a test shot from a recent headshot session. Hair is messy because I just came from swimming. #photography #selfportrait 📸

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Students for Science @studentsforsci.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Hey y’all! NEXT THURSDAY, in lieu of our usual SFS general meeting, we will be having an info session for ANY STUDENT interested in science advocacy! High school, undergraduate, and graduate students welcome. ANY SCHOOL, ANY STATE, ANY MAJOR!

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Meeting of minds: Gina Turrigiano stopped by the lab of Kristen Harris (UT-Austin, @texasscience.bsky.social ) while visiting Austin to give a seminar on homeostatic plasticity. Learn more about @turrigiano.bsky.social at www.turrigianolab.org. #photography #scientists #neuroscientists 📸🧪

A portrait of Kristen Harris (professor at The University of Texas at Austin) and Gina Turrigiano (professor at Brandeis University). Harris, on the left of the photo, is a Caucasian woman with graying blond hair wearing a pair of glasses and a blue sweater. Turrigiano on the right is a Caucasian woman with dark hair wearing a pair of glasses and a black jacket over a yellow-green sweater.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Sunrise this morning in Austin, Texas. I managed to catch this view just before my camera's battery died. #photography 📸

This is a photo of a dramatic sky during sunrise as seen over a residential neighborhood in Austin, Texas. As the sun rises from the lower right of the image, beams of sunlight stream through and illuminate fast-moving clouds.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

I managed to swim butterfly for 25 yards today for the first time in my life.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

A view of the moon this morning in Austin, Texas. #photography 📸

This is a photo of the almost-full moon as seen in the Western cloudless sky over trees and the red roof of a school building, shot early in the morning in Austin, Texas.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Society for Neuroscience @sfn.org · 07/10/2025

The Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) has expanded eligibility! NSP is now open to all trainees meeting the eligibility criteria. Applications are now open! Join a supportive network dedicated to your success. Learn more & apply by October 21. 🔗 vist.ly/49kbu #neurosky

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Testing and refining headshot lighting today. a: butterfly b: similar to Peter Hurley's triangle c: 3-point #photography 📸

This is a triptych of a middle-aged Japanese man's headshots, done in three different lighting styles.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Golden Hour in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Utah). From a recent trip. 📸 #photography

A view of mountains along the South side of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah during an evening golden hour.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Flickr Foundation @flickrfdn.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Today is World Brain Day established by the World Federation of Neurology in 2014. This year's theme is Brain Health for All Ages. Enjoy your brain today and these brainy images from Flickr Commons!

poster shows a drawing of a man in uniform, either military or a sea captain, with a light blue and orange fish on his head. He has his hand to his chin as if pondering an idea.

Medical illustration showing a human head cutaway with numbers and pines pointing to various parts of it surrounded by words in italian.

Drawing of a human brain exposed by retracting the membranes and showing the two cerebral hemispheres separated by the median plane. There is Japanese writing around it

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

It’s Sunday afternoon and thundershower is coming and going here in Austin, Texas. Not much wind so the water is shooting straight down. Flash flood warning again. My 13 yr old son is upstairs doing house chores while listening to Minecraft soundtrack and “Beyond the sea” by Bobby Darin.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

A red-shouldered hawk, seen on my way to work this morning. I saw this one just perched on a lamp post, probably enjoying the morning sun, but surrounded by several angry Blue Jays. 📸🪶 #photography #birds

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) seen at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin, Texas, USA; 17 June 2025)

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Earlier this afternoon, I was testing a lighting setup (inspired by Peter Hurley's triangle light) for an upcoming headshot session. 📸 #photography #selfportrait

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

A beautiful ER ladder in a Drosophila mushroom body output neuron. Will be interesting to discover why some neurons have the ladder and others don't.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

What does a neuroscience pioneer look like? Dr. Kristen Harris has been at the forefront of studying the nanoscale 3D structures of brain cells, such as synapses. Studies done by her lab contributed greatly to our understanding of synapse structure and connections involved in learning and memory. 📸🧪

This is a portrait of Dr. Kristen Harris, a neuroscience professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Caucasian with blond hair wearing a blue shirt. She is at the console of an electron microscope in her lab. Her male staff member is sitting next to her on the left side.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

I recently had the honor of working with Mark Bernat, a world-renowned double bassist. In addition to leading an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, Mark is passionate about bringing classical music to new and wider audiences. #photography #portrait #classicalmusic

This is a portrait of Mark Bernat playing his double bass. Mark is a caucasian man wearing a blue jacket over a purple shirt. Background is white

This is a portrait of Mark Bernat holding his double bass and looking straight at the camera. Mark is a caucasian man wearing a dark gray turtle neck sweater. Background is black.

This is a portrait of Mark Bernat with his double bass. Mark is a caucasian man wearing a dark gray turtle neck sweater and a pair of blue jeans, sitting on a stool and looking at the camera. His bass is placed behind him, leaning against a wooden box. Background is designed to look like a classical painting of blue-gray sky.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 08/03/2025

These two PhD students spoke about the importance of their work: "If they go to a hospital, they're gonna get treated, but they don't see that we're the ones that are coming up with those cures in the first place—even going back to basic biology research, basic science research."

youtube.com

At the Stand Up for Science March: "We're the ones that are coming up with those cures"

YouTube video by Mother Jones

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Today has been a blustery and dusty day in Austin, Texas. All that dust turned the sky pinkish brown, reminiscent of how a post-apocalyptic movie could be color-graded. On another note, the study section to review my NIH grant application submitted in November has been rescheduled to late March.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

It's almost 9 AM on this cloudy Saturday in Austin, Texas, and I just wanted to remind you that you are loved and you are enough.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

This is the thing about basic science… You never know where it will lead, and you cannot presuppose what commercial product comes out of it. They don’t tend to award Nobel Prizes for translational science. They award them for basic, often exploratory science.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

These #SuperbOwls spent a few days in my front yard four years ago. I hope you are enjoying your weekend. #birds #photography 📸

Three young eastern screech owls (Megascops asio).

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Auschwitz Memorial @auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers. This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Jane Liebschutz, MD MPH (she/her) @liebschutz.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Before panic sets it. The New NIH Director and Congress will want research to continue, so the machine will start up at some point. Keep writing papers and preparing proposals. AND educate the public about the key role peer review plays in science and the time and infrastructure investment needed

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19/01/2025

THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO READ I AM BEGGING YOU TO READ THERE IS A REASON THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO READ!! DON’T DO THEIR WORK FOR THEM BY REFUSING TO READ

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Christopher Michel @christophermichel.com · 13/01/2025

"I see the real value of optogenetics as understanding. It’s a way to give us a deep, cellular-resolution, and causal understanding of the amazing things that happen in the brain." Portrait of Stanford Professor @deisseroth.bsky.social for the @nationalacademies.org. #NewHeroes

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Got my ass kicked playing paintball today, first time in maybe 20 years.

A photo of a middle aged Japanese man holding a paintball mask with a yellow paint splatter.

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Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

In 2021, under the guise of preserving life, Texas politicians enacted the country’s most radical abortion ban. Since then, mothers and infants have died at alarming rates, and infertility, STDs, and complications have increased. @thebarbedwire.bsky.social thebarbedwire.com/2025/01/10/t...

thebarbedwire.com

The True Cost of Texas’ Abortion Ban: Rising Deaths, Abandoned Babies, Fewer Doctors - The Barbed Wire

What have the country’s most restrictive abortion laws meant for the women and babies living under them? That’s the million-dollar question posed over the last three years by reporters, health care pr...

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Having a conversation with my speedlight for the last (#52) of my 2024 self-portrait challenge. #photography 📸 There are many things I learned from this project -- some highlights are: 1) I got to know my lighting equipment better, which means that... (1/3)

This is a black-and-white portrait of a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a white t-shirt. His face is surrounded by 6 strobes and speedlights arranged hexagonally, with the top right speedlight pointing at his face. His face is tilted up to look at this speedlight with the right hand lifted up as if he is having a conversation with the speedlight. The background is dark gray.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

A rainy scene (simulated with glycerin on a clear plexiglass panel) for #51 of my 2024 self-portrait challenge. #photography 📸

This is a portrait of a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt. He is sitting behind a wet glass panel looking to the left. His left arm rests on the ledge, held by the right hand. The background is dark gray.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

A beautiful Christmas evening in Salt Lake City, Utah. #photography 📸

A photo of Salt Lake City, Utah, at dusk as seen from the foothill of Mt. Olympus, with the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island in the background.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Inspired by old master painters (in case it's not obvious). #50 of my 2024 self-portrait challenge. #photography 📸

This is a portrait of a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a brown Renaissance-style shirt on the right side of the photo with his body turned to the left. He is sitting at a table draped with red cloth and looking toward the left. His right hand is placed on the table touching an old book. In the background, there is a lit candle that lights the wall. To the left of the candle is a white vase with a small tree branch with red leaves.

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Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明 @masak.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Just a couple of manual speedlights and a reflector for #49 of my 2024 self-portrait challenge. #photography 📸

This is a portrait of a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a gray shirt. He is tilting his head to the right and looking to the upper left. His face rests on the right hand while the left hand holds the right wrist. The background is almost black.

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