iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Nnedi Okorafor, PhD @nnedi.bsky.social · 19h

This redwood smelled fantastic! Beautiful creature. 🌲🪾

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A 2,300-year-old silver container in the shape of a scallop-shell decorated with an octopus 🐙 It may once have held cosmetics. From Paternò, Sicily. Altes Museum, Berlin 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo shows a silver shell-shaped container with an eight-armed octopus in relief at the centre of the lid. The arms of the octopus curl outwards across the ridges of the shell’s surface. This ornate shell container has a hinged lid and may once have been a cosmetic container . It is displayed on a clear stand in a museum case. Dimensions: 13.3 × 13.2 × 3 cm. It is part of the Silver Treasure from Paternò, Sicily, a hoard discovered in 1909, consisting of tableware and toiletries. Dated 4th-3rd century BC.

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Constance Lee Menefee @conniemenefee.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The late Summer - and often early Autumn - insect chorus gives me sighs wrapped in memory ... "Seasons" (c) constance lee menefee

"Seasons"
(c) constance lee menefee

I shall be your cricket
faster chirping
as twilight
pulls in snug,
still warm air
laced
with cool prescience;
then slowing as the next season
chills us into new habits.

-end-

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For #TurtleTuesday, a Thornscrub Tortoise (Gopherus evgoodei) outside its burrow one morning in Sonora, Mexico. Described in 2016, this tortoise inhabits the belt of thornscrub deciduous forest habitat found in Sonora and Sinaloa states. More deets in the ALT. #herps #turtles #NaturePhotography 🌿

A side image of a large tortoise, facing right diagonally, featuring the front and one side. The ground color of the carapace (upper shell) is a yellowish brown, while the limbs and face are a bit darker brown. The limbs have large, thick scales, useful in a rough and rocky desert environment, and for protecting the tortoise's head when it is drawn back into the shell. The powerful limbs have large claws, enabling the tortoise to excavate burrows in the rocky soil. The head is partially exposed in this image, showing a face covered in small pebbly scales, and a small dark brown eye keeping careful watch on the photographer. Along the upper and lower jawlines there is a faint trace of green color - these tortoises eat a lot of plants, flowers and fruits in season, and carrion on occasion. They spend the night and the hotter portions of the day tucked inside their burrows.

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

From the archives, a Sonoran Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum cingulum). Observed in southern Sonora, Mexico in 2017. These daytime hunters pursue a wide variety of prey items including lizards, birds, rodents, grasshoppers, and other snakes. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿

Side image of a snake coiled on sandy soil, head facing left. The snake's body color from nose to tail tip is a pinkish red. The skin between the scales is white, which highlights each scale, and gives the snake an appearance similar to a braided whip. The sides of the face are concave, providing the eyes with more forward vision. The scales above the eyes are enlarged, providing a bit of solar protect to the eyes. The pupils are round, which is typical for snakes that are active during the day.

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This thread is why I’m really here.

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

An ancient and magical amber bear 🐻 ✨ Carved some 10,000 years ago, it washed up on a beach at Fanø in Denmark from a submerged Mesolithic settlement under the North Sea. National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen 📷 by me #Archaeology

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Circ @tinyicecat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This news is important because all the fucks out there actively attempting to wreck the world want you to think that the work is hopeless and just mitigating the worst case scenario. It's not. Fucking keep going.

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Jen Cross @jencross.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This is a fascinating read. If you enjoy science and history it’s worth a few minutes of your time. 🌿

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

For #FrogFriday, a Spotted Whipping Frog (Polypedates maculatus), from Goa province in western India. Why are they called whipping frogs? The answer is in the ALT text. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿

Angled down side image of a frog perched on a green leaf, and facing left. The frog's ground color is a golden brown, overlaid with many small spots and blotches of darker brown. The eye is large, the iris is coppery in color, and the pupil is dark and horizontally elliptical. These frogs are "foam nesters" - while in amplexus, mating pairs position themselves on leaves or branches over water. They exude sticky secretions that is "whipped" into a foam, using their hind limbs. The foam hardens and encases the fertilized eggs, keeping them moist while protecting them from predators while the larvae develop. The next heavy rain disintegrates the foam nest, and washing the tadpoles into the water below.

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A short video of a Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) from Goa Province, India. Small snakes, avg 24 inches (60 cm), but they are one of the more dangerous venomous snakes - their venom is quite potent, they are secretive, and common around human habitations. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿

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Daily Grail @dailygrail.com · 24/09/2026

LOL at Meta trying to get @redpilljunkie.bsky.social to use AI tools to enhance his explicitly anti-AI art.

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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Seems to me like we're due for a reconsideration—and perhaps even an exhibition?—of the mostly forgotten illustrator Boris Artzybasheff, whose hallucinatory mid-20th-century automation drawings seem eerily prescient right now. "Executive of the Future," 1952 onlinecollections.syr.edu/objects/1223...

Drawing of a robot-like figure at a keyboard

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

“But time is the one thing we have been given, and we have been given to time. Time gives us a whirl. We keep waking from a dream we can’t recall, looking around in surprise, and lapsing back, for years on end.”

The cover of Annie Dillard’s book, “Pilgrim At Tinker Creek”. The top half of the book is light green; the lower half is a black and white photo of trees in a forest. Both sections overlap in the middle in a narrow band, overlaid with the author’s name in white sans-serif font. The book’s title is in the upper green section, black with the same font

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Kate Watson @loreandordure.com · 16/09/2026

Oh! This is sad news.

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Rob Denton @rddenton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Boosting this back out there. Just a couple weeks to apply!

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Radiant G🌈 @radiantg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Sometimes my feed is just: [amazing art] looking for work [goated resume] looking for work [great writing] looking for work [banger music] looking for work Dave Slutbutt, CEO of Game Dev, has laid off 9000 people to buy a 4th house in Bora Bora. [industry veteran] looking for work

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Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 10/09/2026

Remember when Amazon raised over $50 million for independent bookstores? Oh, no wait, that was us. 😎 Thank you for choosing bookstores over billionaires. 💜

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RIP Baseball @ripmlb.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The grave of Germany Schaefer in St. Boniface Cemetery in Chicago. He was a fair player but better known for being a clown prince who once stole second as part of an attempted double steal. When the player on third didn’t run, Schaefer stole first base on the next pitch so they could try again.

Germany Schaefer’s grave in St. Boniface Cemetery, Chicago.

The faint name “Herman W. Schaefer.” I think his birth & death dates are below, but the writing is too worn away.

A baseball at the top of the grave marker. I couldn’t tell if it was attached or left there by a fan, and I wasn’t about to try and climb the stone to find out.

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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

🚨 BEWARE of VoteSafe.org 🚨 While it bills itself as a “safe” way to register to vote, it is actually a digital surveillance machine created by Elon Musk’s super PAC.

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Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Squid vibes: #DeepWonders science team encountered this cutie at 1,045 m. They marveled at the specialized cells in their skin, chromatophores — these tiny sacs that contain pigment. As a squid relaxes & contracts its muscles, it reveals or hides pigment for camouflage or communication.

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

This time last year I was visiting friends up in the mts of North Carolina, including this hard-to-miss friend - a Blue Ridge Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus danielsi). A large and robust species, smaller sallies are included among their prey. #herps #salamanders #NaturePhotography 🌿

Angled-down image of a vivid salamander on green moss and facing right. The salamander's overall color is a bright reddish orange; there are a scattering of whitish spots along the jawline, but otherwise it's a reddish-orange beastie. The body and limbs are robust, as is the tail, which is compressed laterally along the lower two-thirds, resulting in a paddle tail. The eyes are small, but a bulging and prominent on the head. This species is usually under cover during the day but emerges at night (esp. on rainy nights) in search of prey.

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

New followers: Thank you. I post a lot of wildlife photos that I've taken here and there, and always with ALT info. Here's a Pyrenees Asp (Vipera aspis zinnikeri), observed out in the open on a cool and foggy morning in NE Spain last year. More deets in the ALT. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿

A top-down image of a coiled snake resting on open ground. The snake's ground color is a grayish-brown, with darker brown markings running from the neck to the tail. These markings consist of short transverse bars that are connected by a stripe of the same color. The result is a zipper-like effect. The snake is a viper, and as such has a solid, stocky body, together with a triangular spear-shaped head. It is perhaps 20 inches (51cm) in length. The snake was encountered crawling in the open on a hillside trail, and immediately drew itself into a defensive coil. Thanks to its small size and my protective footwear, the shot was achieved by leaning over the snake with a 12-60mm lens.

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Kate Watson @loreandordure.com · 09/09/2026

This is a ledger. Everyone has had ledgers. Why do you think spreadsheets look like spreadsheets???

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

For #TurtleTuesday, a small group of Mediterranean Pond Turtles (Mauremys leprosa), basking at the river's edge near Guelmim, Morocco. This was a wary bunch, I had to belly crawl among the rocks on the opposite bank to get the shot :) #herps #turtles #NaturePhotography 🌿

Side image of a group of five turtles basking on a rocky bank along the water's edge. The turtles are all facing away from the camera, with their necks fully extended as they keep watch on their surroundings. Four of them have dark gray shells, heads, and limbs, while one is more of a dark olive color.

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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"Paulino" says, "I pick oranges near Woodlake CA. We get paid $26 per 900lb bin. I start at 6am and leave by 12:30pm. If I work very fast I can fill 5 bins in 6 hrs, but that means very few breaks. Temps have been above 100° which makes the work extremely tough." #WeFeedYou

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Profile view of a Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus) from SE Iowa. Note the upturned rostral scale on the nose, which aids the snake in burrowing into loose soil or sand, either to hide or to search for turtle eggs, a common prey item for these snakes. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿

Side image featuring the head and upper body of a snake, resting on sand and facing left. The snake's body color is light brown, with irregular darker brown blotches that run down the body. The belly is cream, and the upper lip scales are cream edged with brown. A dark stripe runs between the eyes, which continues posterior to the eye, diagonally to the apex of the jaw. The iris is dark orange, and the pupil is black and round. The scale on the end of the nose is enlarged and shovel-shaped, resembling the cow-catcher on the front of an old-time locomotive.

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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Join us in celebrating the people who labor in the fields to put food on our tables. #WeFeedYou #LaborDay

illustration of two farm workers loading the crop onto a truck, with “Happy Labor Day!” text, UFW eagle emblem in a red circle, and 09.07 date.

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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 06/09/2026

So for the last couple months, on a whim, I have been making Weird Sticks. The extremely high ceilings of our living room would eat any painting smaller than a Volkswagen Bug, so I got the idea that a sufficiency of six foot sticks might fill that space nicely.

Three boards, about 3.5 inches wide, painted in turquoise and black with random geometric shapes and found objects all over them. They are leaning against a glass case full of skulls, with a deer skull on one side and some more sticks, backlit, on the other.

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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

this is kind of stunning tbh

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

For #NationalWildlifeDay, a Mississippi Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohnii), an aquatic species observed in southern Louisiana last year. Note the notched vertebral scutes running down the carapace. #herps #turtles #NaturePhotography🌿

Side image of an aquatic turtle on a log, facing left. The turtle's carapace (upper shell) is a drab grayish brown with small patches of algae, and a raised ridge running down the center. The face, neck, and limbs have a dark gray background color, overlaid with vivid stripes of yellow and orange.

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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s #NationalWildlifeDay so here are some of my favorite animals to observe and photograph, starting with the Wood Frog who comes along in February and March with their quack-like call. That lets me know that spring is coming which I greatly appreciate! #herps 🌿

A brown frog with cream colored markings including a line like a mustache, hanging out on a plant stem at the surface of the water. It is reflected beautifully.

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Dr. Earyn McGee @afroherper.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

A few Gila monster shot glasses fresh out the kiln. I’m obsessed with this concept! #lizard #pottery #ceramics #art

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Jen , the MT liberal bird lady @liberal-jen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

A murmuration of starlings above Sardinia, Italy. One of my favorite natural phenomena.

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Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Rough Draft vs Final Draft

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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

From the archives - a Coral Pipesnake (Anilius scytale), from NE Peru. The common name comes from the cylindrical body shape; it looks like a coral snake but is non-venomous. This primitive snake is underground much of the time and feeds on small vertebrates. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿

Angled down image of a brightly colored serpent coiled on a green and yellowish leaf. The snake's ground color is a brilliant coral red, with a series of many narrow and irregular black rings. The snake's eyes are tiny, black, and hard to see.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 02/09/2026

Apollo 11 photo As11-44-6642. Taken by Apollo 11 Command Module pilot Michael Collins, this image captures every living human alive at the time in a single frame—except for Collins himself.

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module ascent stage is in the foreground, rising towards the Command Module against a backdrop of the Moon. In the distance, Earth rises over the lunar horizon.

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Alexandra Weber @toedtoad.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My first paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social ! We found that snake embryos coil due to a mismatch in growth rates between the gut and spine. This tight coil is one of the reasons why snakes are able to get so long. Read the paper here!

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Pile Of Garbage @pileofgarbage.net · 01/09/2026

I love how Werner Herzog is ALWAYS like this:

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Thank you for so many strong essays, poems, ideas, stands, principles, examples, Wendell Berry. Thank you for loving the land, the country, the language. Thank you for living your principles. Quoted you in my talk yesterday, pulled these from my quotes collections.

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Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America’s Agrarian Past, Dies at 92

A Kentucky farmer, he railed against agribusiness and championed small family farms and the environment, winning widespread acclaim.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage. When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig. Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

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Nick Young @nickofnz.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

“We’re just mistreating Mother Nature — that’s like being ugly to your mama.” — Dolly Parton

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