iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 28/09/2026

My biochemist brain is over here reading HF as hydrofluoric acid and am stuck imagining one of these automated labs managing to order the stuff, screwing up the liquid handling with an incompatible material, and causing an incident. I don’t think I wanna be on Anthropic’s EH&S team…

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veikkolinko.bsky.social @veikkolinko.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Here’s our new perspective article discussing the emerging field of self-assembling DNA-peptide and DNA-protein hybrid systems! 🧬 DNA Nanotechnology Meets Peptide and Protein Self‐Assembly chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

DNA Nanotechnology Meets Peptide and Protein Self‐Assembly

Combining DNA nanotechnology with peptide and protein assembly provides complementary platforms for the rational engineering of functional biomaterials. This Perspective discusses the emerging field ...

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 25/09/2026

The rise of @rincewind.run from normal guy who made some friends by nerding out about Discworld to key tastemaker on the site over the course of about two weeks was a sight to behold. Somehow tastefully avoided posters madness too, unlike many other early power-brokers.

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 25/09/2026

On the other hand, if they can get it working, it’s going to require developing some really cool materials and physics (lightweight radiation shielding and radiative heat removal). So at least the incidentals will be cool until we Kessler syndrome ourselves in a cloud of smashed GPUs

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Elizabeth Wood, PhD @lizbwood.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Introducing: continuous variational synthesis 📄 jurabio.com/s/cvs.pdf We’re pleased to announce a new advance in our ability to synthesize generative model-designed DNA sequences at petascale.

jurabio.com

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 22/09/2026

Excited to share the last preprint from my PhD, 4 years after graduating! @petrsulc.bsky.social's lab embedded protein coding sequences into RNA origami via creative use of paranemic cohesion, allowing us to maximize structure without changing the target sequence. 🧬🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

Engineered mRNA nanostructures expand the design space of mRNA therapeutics through programmable protein expression and immune stimulation

Messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics have transformed vaccination and protein replacement strategies, yet efforts to improve their performance have focused largely on sequence engineering, nucleotide mod...

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 22/09/2026

biorxiv.org

Engineered mRNA nanostructures expand the design space of mRNA therapeutics through programmable protein expression and immune stimulation

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DISCO: DNA Infrastructure for Storage and COmputation. @disco-eu.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

DISCO research on DNA computing is now published in Nature! doi.org/10.1038/s415... Congratulations to all the authors on this exciting achievement! 🧬 An accompanying Research Briefing is also available here: doi.org/10.1038/d415...

doi.org

A thermodynamically favoured molecular computer - Nature

Scaffolded DNA Computer performs diverse computations while thermodynamically relaxing towards equilibrium, demonstrating simplicity, reusability, speed, robustness and scalability of the approac...

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 09/09/2026

New size record in DNA origami nanopores! 🧬

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Clément Canonne @ccanonne.github.io · 08/09/2026

Well, this Navier-Stokes affair did blow up in finite time

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 07/09/2026

I moved from SLC to the Boston area for uni and was struck by how much of Cambridge/Somerville feels like a better version of SLC’s east bench. Building triplexes with generous setbacks results in density high enough for useful public transit and lively squares that make the city fun to live in.

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Jill Townley @jilltownley.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

How do researchers design an RNA in 3D when no accurate 3D prediction model exists? Eterna's collaboration with the @rdaslab.bsky.social at Stanford was able to design novel pseudoknots using a blend of secondary structure prediction and GenAI design methods. 🧪 #RNAsky

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𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔰 🧲 @magnets.eurosky.social · 26/08/2026

the thing about Curry and Dolly they had in common was taking their art completely seriously but not taking themselves too seriously and that is why they were such a joy

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Jon Worth @jonworth.eu · 24/08/2026

Super animation of trains in 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇳🇱🇧🇪🇱🇺🇨🇭 chillchamp1.github.io/github.io/#eu A city like Marseille (France's second or third largest, depending how you define it) has so few trains you can barely see where it is

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 16/08/2026

A letter of marque came from the king To the scummiest vessel I’ve ever seen

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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Pleased to finally announce... Abdication, the last Southern Reach novel! "There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."

Publishers Marketplace Deal Report, August 6, 2026:

Jeff Vandermeer's ABDICATION, the last novel in the Southern Reach series, in which an ornithologist exiled to a remote coast stumbles on a terrifying secret, a self-proclaimed king pursues a mystery hidden in a strange weather station, and a man who can become a cormorant is tasked with a deadly mission through a future landscape transformed by Area X, for publication in October 2027, in a significant deal, to Jenna Johnson at Farrar, Straus, by Joseph Veltre at the Gersh Agency and Alex Kohner at Yorn Levine (world).

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 25/07/2026

This is an excellent development in the blind testing field! Good luck to the competitors 🧬

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Kresten Lindorff-Larsen @lindorfflarsen.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

It’s time for the World Cup final with one of the greatest footballers that may be playing his last cup So time for a short thread on a link between Messi and an intrinsically disordered protein. 1/n

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 18/07/2026

Emailed two colleagues in the EU tonight and immediately got this in my inbox. We in the states have so much to learn from y'all.

Two almost identical away messages. "Are you shitting me? It's July. Call back next month."

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 11/06/2026

RNA imaging 👀🧬👀🧬

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veikkolinko.bsky.social @veikkolinko.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Versatile DNA nanostructures 🧬 can be used as molecular lithography masks for the selective deposition or etching of materials in conventional lithographic processing. Check out our new open-access review in J Phys D: Appl Phys! doi.org/10.1088/1361... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social

doi.org

Molecular lithography with DNA nanostructures: methods and applications

Molecular lithography with DNA nanostructures: methods and applications, Keller, Adrian, Linko, Veikko

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Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 20/05/2026

The parking attendant paused by the double-length bay. Intended for mobile homes and cars with trailers, it was currently occupied by a sleeping dragon. No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn. The parking attendant moved on.

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Zoe Yang 🏳️‍⚧️ @zqx-yang.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Our multi-μm DNA shell paper is finally out in #NanoLetters, now also featuring controlled multilayer shell formation! 🧬 🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... Thanks so much again to Christoph and @simmellab.bsky.social !!

pubs.acs.org

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 17/05/2026

The new arXiv rules don’t even say you can’t be bad at citing, just don’t make up citations from whole cloth. Improper citations are a problem which predates LLMs. I found one recently where, for more than a decade, the entire field has been citing a paper for something it didn’t do.

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 11/05/2026

There is only one song powerful enough to make an entire generation start singing with just a single note. (Blank video, sound up)

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 10/05/2026

I feel like @aptshadow.bsky.social was binging on Creature posts from @lize.bsky.social while writing the Bug Section of Children of Strife.

Highlight of text from Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky

"This is a good batch," Pil said approvingly. He picked out one specimen with the drone cams. It must have been over a mètre long, with legs twice that-just ridiculously unwieldy legs. It thrashed through the slick foliage as though trying to swim. Its head-or the front end of it, as it didn't have a distinct head section-was studded with clusters of eyes, and half a dozen weaving antennae. These fondled everything in front of it suggestively every time it stopped.
Kott looked at it and wondered why it didn't just die of utter horror at its own existence. But, however ill, malformed and generally wrong every generation of bugs down there looked, she couldn't deny them their zest for their horrible, misshapen life.

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Andreas Walther @waltherlab.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

🚀 We are recruiting 2 PhD researchers to join the Walther Lab @ JGU Mainz! Help us build intelligent matter: synthetic cells and hydrogel materials that compute, adapt, move, learn, or make simple decisions. #PhDPosition #SyntheticCells #Hydrogels

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Kenneth Loi @kenjmloi.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Excited to share our discovery of a new programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting system hiding inside bacteriophages that predates CRISPR. We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets. Thread + link below.

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 21/04/2026

“[Algorithmic feeds] rarely — if ever — give you what you're looking for. ‘They give just enough to keep you engaged, keep you looking at the app and interacting with it as long as possible,’” What is this #1 brain-melting Instagram Reel they’re hiding from me??

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Christoph Hadlich @zinnoberblau.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

I am delighted to announce our new paper, which investigates the conductivity of our DNA-templated palladium nanowires: doi.org/10.1002/sstr... Great work by Borja and everyone else involved! 🧬

doi.org

Metallic Conductance in Palladium Nanowires Templated by DNA Origami Molds

Pd nanowires are created by self-assembly based on DNA origamis and exhibit exceptionally good charge conduction properties.

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Jacob Harris @jacobharr.is · 06/04/2026

Realizing that some of my inexplicable sadness about the Artemis II stuff is that it feels like a trans-dimensional communication from an America that took a different path and chose joy instead of fear and hate.

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Kate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Hey everyone, new targets are needed now more than ever! 🧶🧬 Please consider if you have something ready to go.

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Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Why is publishing so expensive? In this Editorial, we (@katherine-brown.bsky.social @drmichaelway.bsky.social & @seemagrewal.bsky.social) provide details and context on JCS's finances, and hope to dispel some of the myths around the economics of publishing. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Breakdown of costs for JCS in 2025. Pie chart: Editorial salaries and stipends - 19%; In-house production salaries - 23%; Manuscript processing and publication costs - 7%; Travel and expenses - 3%; Marketing - 6%; Sales - 8%; Community engagement - 5%; General expenses/overheads - 29%.

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 02/04/2026

I will never get Mambo no. 6 out of my head

Tweet from @corylockwood saying “Someday Lou Bega's gonna drop
Mambo number 6 and I hope it kills every single one of us.”

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 01/04/2026

RNA droplets that grow and divide with intrinsic ribozyme activity 🧬

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 01/04/2026

In addition to carrying genetic data, DNA and RNA can also be designed to fold into 'molecular breadboards' with nanometer addressability. To enable tightly-packed RNA origami, we developed a new motif, the αKL, which we're excited to share in our preprint!🧬🧪 1/🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Scientific diagram showing the alphaKL. Left panels shows various atomic force microscope images of structures built using the motif, while the right panel shows a computer rendering of the motif.

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 01/04/2026

RNA droplets that grow and divide with intrinsic ribozyme activity 🧬

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 01/04/2026

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Dr Kat Day (she/her) 🌖 @chronicleflask.katday.com · 16/03/2026

You know what? Yes. This is the way. Let the narrative decide.

Ok, here is the OFFICIAL AND ONLY CORRECT GUIDE to starting reading Pratchetts Books. Its a multiple step process, so read all steps carefully otherwise you will be wrong and shunned to eternity.
1. Go outside.
2. Trust the universe for once in your life.
3. Find any of these: Library, Thriftstore, secondhand bookshop, a cupboard with free books, your relatives or friends book shelf or storage boxes...
4. Locate the Pratchett Book.
5. The universe has now deciced with which book you must start with.
6. Compliment the universe for its wisdom.
7. From there on repeat the steps above.

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The 2026 National Science Foundation budget is $8.75 Billion.

nytimes.com

First 6 Days of Iran War Cost U.S. $11.3 Billion, Pentagon Says

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WONDER🧬 @wonder-dna.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

✨This International Women’s Day, WONDER celebrates the brilliant women pushing the boundaries of discovery in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and research 🧬 From the lab bench to leadership, women are driving innovation, asking bold questions, and transforming ideas into breakthroughs🌎

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 25/02/2026

🤩🤩🤩 such a cool visualization of wobble base pairing 🧬🧪

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Petr Šulc @petrsulc.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

🧪🧬 You can now play Minecraft with DNA nanotechnology! In our latest preprint we introduce DNA polycubes platform: A modeling driven system, where we use SAT-solvers+multiscale simulations to design 3D finite-size structures that assemble in high yield chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 07/02/2026

Challenge: be normal about Alex Hall Difficulty: ImpossibHOWDOESHEALWAYSLANDSOCLEAN??? SHOW THESE EUROPEANS THAT THE GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH ALSO MEANS THE GREATEST FLIPS ON EARTH

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