iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Yeah, in my experience, the emotional labor involved in trying to help a non-sufferer understand is entirely too much for me during an episode. I'm lucky if I can convey that "I'm currently in X state, and I need Y from you".

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 03/10/2026

"Suffocating numbness and apathy" is quite a good description for my experience of depression. And it's something that's really difficult to express to someone who hasn't experienced it firsthand.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 02/10/2026

This likely appears as a 404 right now. I am aware. I have not manually posted it in order to convince my webhost that there is, in fact, a problem. (When I manually post them, they assume the tech issue I'm reporting does not exist.)

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 02/10/2026

Our eyes aren't sensitive to ultraviolet light, but many insects' are. To see a bit of what they see, photographer Chien Lee used an ultraviolet flashlight and a long exposure to capture these pitcher plants. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33350

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 01/10/2026

Is this "I won't get royalties" in the sense of "I'm never outselling my advance" or is it "I'm donating it all"?

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 01/10/2026

Fun fact: Michelle is one of the scientists featured in my forthcoming book. And, yes, it's for a chapter on microplastic pollution.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 01/10/2026

Thanks for the reminder. Ongoing tech problems mean I'm having to trigger WordPress manually and I forget when I'm doing other tasks. Link should work now.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 01/10/2026

Flushing a toilet produces a cloud of tiny, inhaleable aerosol droplets, as we've seen before. When the flush includes pathogens, those droplets can become seeds for infection. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33966

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 30/09/2026

Lenticular clouds are otherworldly on the own, but this image from photographer Francisco Negroni elevates the surrealism to another level. Here, a double lenticular cloud sits over the summit of the Villarrica volcano in Chile, illuminated at nightfall by the gl fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33427

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/09/2026

On Arctic hillsides, solifluction creates terrace-like waves patterns, like those pictured above. Although these look similar to roll waves or lava flows, a new study shows that they're not physical equivalents. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32204

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/09/2026

Turns out part of the fallout from last week's attack on FYFD was that scheduled posts failed to go out. Thanks to @katherine-adler.bsky.social for bringing my attention to the problem! Lots of new material up now: fyfluiddynamics.com

fyfluiddynamics.com

FYFD

Celebrating the physics of all that flows

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/09/2026

That looks awesome! And I love Acadia. Would you be okay with me possibly writing an FYFD post with this image?

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/09/2026

Where's the Jordan Pond picture? Would love to see it.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/09/2026

As a non-fiction author currently in copyedits... SAME.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/09/2026

You're definitely not wrong, but the key ingredient in both cases is knowing how to actually seek and evaluate sources, which was missing in 2003 AND in 2026.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/09/2026

The Matrix and Galaxy Quest are major players for me.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/09/2026

Your reviewer is correct. Also, I suspect I will share your same toxic habit.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/09/2026

A couple years ago, after a discussion with mathematicians where they were generally blasé about students feeding their course-related IP into LLMs without their permission, I asked, "And how do you feel about a reviewer pasting in the text of your unpublished journal article?"

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/09/2026

At first glance, the dune field of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in northeastern Brazil looks like a desert. But this area's rainfall tops 50 inches a year, exceeding Seattle's typical amount. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33887

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/09/2026

Lots to agree with in that second response, but I fundamentally object to the underlying assumption that an LLM is thinking.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 25/09/2026

The Good Place should be much higher than this. Hardly any show hits such a consistently high level every single episode.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 25/09/2026

Today's copyediting update: Past the 35% mark! (Yes, I recognize that my use of % here is inconsistent with my prior use of "percent" earlier in the thread.)

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 25/09/2026

Spores rise like smoke from botanical boules in this image by photographer Emmy Young. To reproduce, many plants and fungi release spores to soar on the wind--or, in the case of the nearly-still air of the forest floor, drift subtly on a mushroom-made breeze. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=28983

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/09/2026

Yesterday I found myself cataloging which German expert I should contact to justify capitalization (or not) of a single word in a line of Goethe. Friends, this is a book about fluid physics.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/09/2026

Update: 25 percent of the way through, and I will not be upset if my schedule means I'm done with working on this for today. I think my brain needs breaks because every query turns into an existential crisis in my head.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/09/2026

Saturn's moon Enceladus, like several bodies in our solar system, has a global ocean beneath an icy shell. Unlike most other bodies, though, Enceladus has four large fissures--2 kilometers across and 130 kilometers long--that release geysers into space. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33316

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/09/2026

I think of myself as being a rather clear and stylistically consistent writer. Ten percent of the way into this copyedited manuscript and I have been thoroughly disabused of this notion. #writerlife

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/09/2026

:shudder: And I already struggled with those BEFORE the plagiarism bot.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 23/09/2026

I'm not getting these yet, but all my author friends are.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 23/09/2026

During floods, dams often need to release excess water to prevent damage to their infrastructure. Spillways are one mechanism for this. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30849

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 22/09/2026

I am not looking forward to this.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 22/09/2026

Blow across a glass bottle at the right flow speed, and you'll excite Helmholtz resonance in the bottle's neck. Today's study takes that effect, shrinks it down, and turns it into a method for controlling microrobots. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33840

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 22/09/2026

Fun fact: exactly 0 of those 4,200 posts was written by an AI.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 22/09/2026

WordPress informs me that I've published 4,200 posts on FYFD. That's... a lot of #fluiddynamics. #writinglife

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 21/09/2026

Wildfires can generate their own thunderstorms through pyrocumulonimbus clouds. These clouds can have an outsized impact on the stratosphere, too, injecting smoke and particulates that can linger for years to come. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33880

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 21/09/2026

FYFD seems to be under attack, which Cloudflare is mitigating for the moment. If you're a human, you should be able to access the site now. If you're a bot, kindly fuck off.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 21/09/2026

Having massive issues with FYFD web hosting this morning. Consider this a notice that I'm aware of the issue and trying to work with my hosting service to solve it. Fingers crossed that we'll get it back soon!

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 20/09/2026

I found that my appreciation for Winter Is Coming increased a lot after I fell in love with skiing. Winter sports may involve many layers and long nights, but they can also be completely awesome and totally worth it.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 18/09/2026

A seal looks across a rain-pocked ocean surface in this photograph by Luca Lorenz. Over the summer, I found myself in a similar state to this seal, swimming in a lake as rain began to fall. It turned into one of the most peaceful moments of recent memory. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33368

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/09/2026

Usually big names on small creators. But it's a conversation better suited for offline.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/09/2026

100% agreed on Substack as an individual band-aid on a systemic problem. Patreon suffers similar issues. And as someone who lives more on the communicator side of the spectrum, I have seen so many issues of power abuse.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/09/2026

The tobacco hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, relies on its antennae to sense odors, but a new study shows they may have some ability to smell with their wings also. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32467

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/09/2026

Full disclosure: Becker's book is from my same publisher, but I bought my copy myself before even realizing that. 😂

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/09/2026

Incidentally, if you haven't read "More Everything Forever," you NEED to. It's intensely relevant and is one of two books I constantly recommend when I get into AI-related conversations. You need to know the fringe beliefs these billionaire oligarchs hold, and this is the book that lays them out.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 16/09/2026

Neither is a city, but I've long been amused by Smackover, Arkansas, and Cut and Shoot, Texas. Both names just beg for an elaborating story.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 16/09/2026

The Nivlisen Ice Shelf is a floating tongue of glacial ice flowing off Antarctica. During summer months, dots and streaks of brilliant blue meltwater appear on its surface. More water lies beneath, in crevasses and other drainage channels below the ice surface. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31702

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 15/09/2026

Ha! I'll chalk that up to Yet Another Thing They Don't Tell New Authors.

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 15/09/2026

OMG YES. I thought it was just me!

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