iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 3m

Swirly synchronicity in my tl

010

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 1h

I am still a maggot

031

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 2h

Halloween costumes for birders. This is from last year and someone actually did the sexy owl pellet one.

A comic called halloween costume ideas for birders. In panel 1, labeled easy, there's a person labeled northern cardinal wearing a party hat, a beak, and red clothes, and a person labeled roseate spoonbill wearing pink clothes and a wooden spoon on their nose. In panel 2, labeled harder, there's a person labeled merlin sound ID wearing a big green circle with a microphone modeled after the button on the merlin sound ID app, and a person labeled hybrid green x blue jay wearing a complex costume with a mask and robe and hat modeled after a recently discovered hybrid bird. In panel 3, labeled challenging, there's a person labeled baltimore oriole nest wearing an enormous accurate woven oriole nest suspended from their arms and shoulders, and a person labeled african jacana carrying chicks with a hideous costume of long-toed bird feet hanging from their armpits. In panel 4, labeled hot, there's a person labeled high quality spotting scope who is shirtless and is wearing a spotting scope mask on their head, and a person labeled sexy owl pellet wearing an owl pellet top and bottom with a mouse skull on their head.

7423116

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Brian Lilly @brglilly.bsky.social · 1h

Lucky to see an active Giant anteater #cotswoldwildlifepark #anteater #mammals

052

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 2h

Next stop: the Pencil Museum in Keswick.

120

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 2h

Taningia danae @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 969 part 2 #samplinggap #MarineLife

0257

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Lisa Messeri @lmesseri.bsky.social · 3h

strong statement from the Association for Human Mathematicians. "Releasing over 700 files at once is not a demonstration of scholarship, but a demonstration of power. We urge mathematicians to discontinue their work with OpenAI and to return to a vision of science that centers human understanding."

ahmath.org

Statements — AHM

05317

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 17h

Like approaching a giant alien spaceship…

171

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 6h

Luck? Luck?! It was genius!

010

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6h

'In the 1980s and 90s Lincoln, like many cities, was struggling as its long-established engineering factories closed down, while a lack of higher education opportunities led to many young people moving away.' Which history will repeat itself at Lincoln?

bbc.co.uk

Secret Lincolnshire - How a University transformed Lincoln - BBC Sounds

The University of Lincoln was officially opened in October 1996.

12815

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes @lemoustier.bsky.social · 7h

If #AI companies really believed these models were conscious then they'd have to explain why it's ethical to keep them imprisoned and force them to answer inane questions and generate junk images 24/7 but they don't believe it so let's just move on

3388

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 8h

'The University of Manchester is seeking alternative funding sources to keep scientific work at Jodrell Bank going after hearing that lost UK Research and Innovation funding would not be restored despite interventions by the prime minister.'

timeshighereducation.com

Manchester seeks alternative Jodrell funds despite Burnham pledge

University exploring new revenue streams to continue important scientific research at site, as astronomers remain concerned about the future of facility

14623

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Jane Rushton @janerushtonart.bsky.social · 8h

A bit of a dark and breezy morning, but the inquisitive seal made another appearance which made me very happy. #morningdip

1282

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 8h

I am generally crap at this… Wordle 1,938 2/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

150

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 9h

The PDF arrived a few minutes after I wrote this. It looks like a BOOK?! That I wrote?! It's even got pictures in it! Also, we've managed to wedge Frank Bruno into my author bio 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

1312

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 10h

I *hate* it when ppl interrupt my talks. Don’t allow it. It’s my talk, not yours. Ask at the end.

030

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 17h

Like approaching a giant alien spaceship…

171

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 21h

A shadowy network of hedgehogs and owls, operating at the highest levels of the British establishment.

119865214

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Des @desdelboy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Still impressed with St Pancras following last weeks visit. The transformation of William Henry Barlow’s original building into the International by architects Alastair Lansley and Chapman Taylor is nothing short of spectacular in my opinion. share.google/BgkXonQtFT2r...

1713811

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 21h

Doomsday is little more than a month away. At least according to a paper @science.org published in 1960. (No, really). So of course I spent the last few days delving into the paper and its history 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Will the world end next month? Science said so, in 1960

Researchers concluded that doomsday will fall on 13 November—but not for the reasons we might expect today

87228

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 22h

Some 3,400 years ago, an Egyptian artisan captured a sense of speed and elegance in this beautifully carved handle in the shape of a horse! 🐴 ❤️ New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, c. 1390–1352 BC. The Met 📷 by me #Archaeology

8545110

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 18h

That's also an example of how things can fade rapidly when new tech/cheaper alternatives arrive. I remember in the noughties profs of English predicting that text spelling would be a new argot/dialect of English, like Pidgin. Cheap phone contracts and rapid thumbs soon put a stop to that.

010

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 18h

I never learned the lingo tho m8

220

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 18h

Well that is very true (trivially, look at how SMS, not intended as a major feature by the phone manufacturers, became a massive way of communicating cheaply leading to all that nineties/noughties text-speak). But both 'woods' are valid I think.

120

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 19h

Isn't the point that this tech is being sold as a way to massively increase efficiency rather than as a means for ordinary folk to have fun. Nobody disputes these things can perform in ways that mimic humans in some respects. The issue is how transformative that will/can/should be, no?

161

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 19h

She stared at him and said 'Do you really? Do you really believe that? How extraordinary.' And that was that.

160

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 19h

Similar zinger in the In Our Time ep on Philippa Foot. In a seminar she said that nobody really believed that inaction (not sending food to starving ppl) was morally equivalent to negative action (sending poisoned food). In the Q&A a utilitarian postdoc dared to say that yes, he believed that...

100

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Arvid Ågren @arvidagren.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Elisabeth Anscombe on how to summon the courage to ask a question at a seminar.

Screenshot reading “And so I just went up to Miss Anscombe.
Everyone else was terrified off. And I
said, Miss Anscombe, how do you
manage to summon up the courage to
ask a question in one of these seminars?

And apparently, what Anscombe told her
was, I just repeat one of their sentences
back to them, look puzzled, and say, but
why? And then they look terrified at me.
And that does work.”

45618

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution @whoi.edu · 23h

Happy World Octopus Day! 🐙 In 2019, scientists in Alvin discovered thousands of octopuses tending their eggs in a part of now known as Octopus Garden. 📲Watch the full video with WHOI principal engineer Andy Bowen and MBNMS research specialist Chad King: go.whoi.edu/octo-garden

19146

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Chris and his farmily of forever farm friends @caenhillcc.bsky.social · 20h

Our rescue bull Billy on night duty with Wilson our oldest farm cat

1347349

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 20h

🦑 Meet Planctoteuthis sp.! 🦑 According to #SamplingGap Co-chief sci Dr. Perez: “Images have finally enabled the description of this tail, but no one knows what it is used for. It looks like a siphonophore from a distance, and one hypothesis is that it could be used for siphonophore mimicry.”

118761

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 20h

Blue button jellies float on the waters surface. They’re related to true jellies, but they’ve got a dry top that feels a bit like a fingernail, and is filled with air-trapping chambers to keep the jelly above the waves This float also means they slide on the water like hockey pucks 🏒

9359109

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Jan Carson @jancarsonwrites.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Shit. They’re unlikely to give me the Nobel now. It’d just be weird having two laureates that rhyme

1355

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 21h

La Belgique n’est pas la France…

000

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 22h

Et ces adultes, laissez-moi deviner… seraient-ils par chance, je ne sais pas, peut-être… des flics?

100

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Christina Dongowski @tinido.bsky.social · 22h

Les enfants de la patrie.

23712

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 22h

Coconut Octopuses (Amphioctopus marginatus) are known to use tools. They will carry around shells in order to deploy them as a mobile shelter. It's nice to have some armour when you're a soft and squishy mollusk They also are known to sometimes walk around on two limbs. Take that Plato! #OCTOtober

A Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) sitting in a horizontal bivalve shell on the sea floor, and it is lifting the top half of the shell with one arm. The octopus looks very annoyed, and is staring at the camera. The octopus is a dark brownish red, with light orange on the bottom of its arms and white suckers. The inside of the shell is white, and the outside of the shell has dark red or orange stripes alternating with white ridges.

A Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) inside a glass bottle trying to pull in a crab it has caught, but the crab is too big. The octopus has its arms outstretched and grabbing the sides of the bottle. The octopus is off white with some dark brown through its eyes. A lot of its suckers have a light blue tinge. There is a bivalve shell in the bottle. The crab is larger than the octopus. It appears to have a crack in its shell, probably where the octopus bit it. It is facing away from the camera. Its left arms and a small part of its body are pulled into the bottle. It has a mottled batter on its body with some blue at the ends of its arms. The sea floor is sandy.

A Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) hiding in a glass jar lying in the seabed. The photo is taken facing the opening. The octopus is sticking its head and the top of its arms out of the jar. The suckers are clearly visible and the octopus is giving puppy dog eyes. The rest of its arms and body is in the jar.

A Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus trying to leave its collection of shells for a larger shell, which contains another coconut octopus. The first octopus is exposed, and is straddling between the two sets of shells. The original set appears to be three, smallish shells. Two arms are reaching into the new shell. The octopus is purple, with little beige bits breaking up the purple. Its sucked are visible. Its mantle is round. The second octopus is is sitting in two, large mismatched shells. It is quite snug, with its suckers holding on to both shells. It is purple, with a lavender colour around the eyes and white around the suckers.

29032

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Mémoire2cité @memoire2cite.bsky.social · 23h

@ Victor Vasarely...Győző Vásárhelyi, dit Victor Vasarely, (1906-1997) Plasticien hongrois, reconnu comme étant le père de l'art optique..

052

Reposted by Matthew Cobb

Graham Davey @grahamcldavey.bsky.social · 23h

Today’s students now have devices that give them access to wi-fi wherever they go

021