iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Basic science is amazing, but not just because it can benefit us. I do science because I am naturally curious about the world and want to answer my questions! Humans are curious animals, and knowledge is worth pursuing, whether or not it has a direct benefit to us. We should prioritize learning!

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Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Happy Cephalopod Week! If you were a cephalopod, you’d deserve a fancy name. Using your first initial, last initial, and favorite color, you can make one for yourself! Share yours in the comments, and check out the spotlight on our website to continue the cephalo-bration. 🐙⁠ bit.ly/3TKH5OJ

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Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It’s Cephalopod Week! All week long we’ll be celebrating our favorite cephalopods with stories, games, educational activities, virtual events, and lots more! Dive in on our website at sciencefriday.com/cephalopodweek. We’re kicking it off with a nautilus as our #PictureOfTheWeek.

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Jeff Day @jeffday.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

HOLY SHIT PROMACHOTEUTHIS ON @schmidtocean.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/s1xbJG7...

a red squid with two very long, very thick, weirdly stringy tentacles

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Sam @moonskinned.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Art I made for @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social / @aptshadow.bsky.social 's Children of Time RPG. It's live on Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/gsh...

Three uplifted pangolins with backpacks and painted scales explore a desert landscape, a crashed satellite looms in the distance.

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Sam @moonskinned.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

More Children of Time art for @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social. Crew managing cryo-pods inside an ark ships cargo system. Sculpted in Blender and painted in Photoshop. www.kickstarter.com/projects/gsh...

Stacks of cryo pods stretch into the distance inside a vast spaceship cargo hanger. Crew in Eva suits remove pods lit in red indicating the death of the inhabitant.

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Reposting this would be very helpful. We're having a tough month at Skype a Scientist between much of my energy being devoted to Academy of Natural Sciences stuff. I need help!!

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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Wonderful world of cephalopod evolution in deep time... " Here we provide an overview of some exciting fields in cephalopod research, where (in our biased opinion) the most impressive advances have been made." 🧪⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio #EvoBio www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Morphological changes during the evolution from bactritids (top) to the first and slightly derived Devonian ammonoids and changes in ecology.

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Helen Whistberry @whistberry.northsky.social · 25/08/2026

Happy #InverteFest! Squid says trans rights! 🦑

Symmetrical digital drawing of a squid with its head down and legs waving up in the air and all wrapped around each other. The squid is outlined in white and shaded in with the soft pink and blue of the trans pride flag.

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Alex Ries @alexries.com · 30/08/2026

Alien of the Day This GORGEOUS portrait of a bolt-tongue by Wayne Barlowe, from his famous book 'Expedition'. Superior use of textures; something very difficult to master in my experience!

Painting of an alien predator with a bright red arrow shaped tongue

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Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I love this photo cause it feels like you are just a member of the squad, swimming along with your fellow squid... 🦑📷Lucas Garriga (www.inaturalist.ca/observations...)

A squad of Caribbean Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea) swimming. There are all mostly pointing away into the background (and slightly left) with their arms held together. They are mostly an off white colour, with a lot of them having a brown stripe that goes length wise. There appears to be a group of other animals swimming in the background. You can see the sea floor and the surface of the water and everything is tinged blue from the water.

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Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Kisslip Cuttlefish (Acanthosepion lycidas) get their name from markings on their mantles that resemble lips. It's nice to have a sensible cephalopod name after stuff like the seven-arm octopus that has eight arms or vampire squids that are not squids. 🦑📷 Spike (www.inaturalist.ca/observations...)

Four Kisslip Cuttlefish (Acanthosepion lycidas) in a what appears to be water tank. The camera angle is from above, giving a good view of their tops. Three of them are partially out of frame, with only one in the centre being entirely visible. They have their arms held together. Three of them are hot pink with dark brown stripes, with many "lip" marks on their mantle where the stripes get white as well as the pink in between, making it look like a pair of lips. The other cuttlefish has the same patter, but they are a lighter pink with grey stripes.

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Meg Mindlin @invertebabe.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

New research just dropped today that makes octopuses even weirder than they already are… let me explain🧵🧪🐙🐡🦑

OCTOPUSES JUST GOT WEIRDER
Featuring an illustration of a two spot octopus with a blue and purple ribosome behind it

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NOAA Fisheries @fisheries.noaa.gov · 23/07/2026

We are hiring four Fish Biologists with multiple duty station location options. Applications are due by July 29, 2026. For upcoming positions and tips for how to apply on USAJobs visit: fisheries.noaa.gov/careers-more... #WorkAtNOAAFisheries; #Careers; #NOAA

A square card with a faded photo of a fish as the background. Text overlaid on the photo reads “Work at NOAA Fisheries. Fish Biologist; Salary: $74,678 - $197,200; Four positions open; Apply by July 29, 2026 via USAJobs”

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

My visa for Brazil finally came in!! Very soon I will be officially starting my masters degree and actually be studying squid! 🦑🦑🦑🦑🦑🦑

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mossworm.bsky.social @mossworm.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

'we can now use the sludge machine to generate the rest of fragmented specimens' no you can't???

Part of an article in Florida Trend: "Other AI projects are in progress at the Florida Museum. One tries to quantify levels of coloration within a specimen to learn more about prey-predator dynamics. Another leverages generative AI to help fill gaps in incomplete fossil records, reconstructing fragmented artifacts within a level of certainty. In the future, Porto says he'd love to see what data he could scrape from the museum's collection of 16,000-plus 3D scans of vertebrate skeletons." not how fossils work

"Another leverages generative AI to help fill gaps in incomplete fossil records, reconstructing fragmented artifacts within a level of certainty."

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Let's take a look at some low hanging fruit around lunch time on day 2 Louisiana has TWO bubbles left. Alaska's only got one! Who's gonna bring 'em home? And please. Someone. Help Florida. They have so many invasive species, & now no one is filling their bubbles. givebutter.com/USS2026

a map of the united states with a blue west coast, pink middle, purple for northeast, and green southern states. Half of the bubbles are full! Wyoming inexplicably has two gritties in the bubbles

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Well my visa application is finally in the mail. Who knew going to another country for university would require so much paperwork 😅 I am just glad it is finally out of my hands. I hope it is processed swiftly so I can go to Brazil before the semester starts.

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C. Chen @ Jamsteeeec @squamiferum.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

[New Paper] in Ecology @esajournals.bsky.social reports a remarkable limpet feeding exclusively on chitinous tubes of deep-sea tubeworms! Chitin may be key energy reserves in the deep. New species in the family Osteopeltidae previously only known from whale fall. OPEN ACCESS: doi.org/10.1002/ecy....

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Jessie🦇 @atropius.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I dropped everything to draw this friend

Sketchbook drawing of a small blue octopus with its tentacles all spread out. It has big black eyes which have a tiny sparkle in them. Below is a ribbon-style banner that reads "Microeledone galapagensis"

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 22/05/2026

As a science fiction writer I really fucking resent tech bros for ruining the phrase "artificial intelligence." 80 years of it being all about cool androids and interesting computers destroyed by five years of "Spicy autocorrect making everything shittier for money." NEVER FORGIVE.

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

@echinoblog.bsky.social I have another sea star question if you dont mind! At my local aquarium our Striped Sun Star has these weird white lumps. We couldn't figure out what they were. Do you know what they could possibly be?

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◉●○•° @cosmoecology.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Just a reminder for my fellow sci-fi fans: @aptshadow.bsky.social Children of Time series exists and is OUTSTANDING. The profundity of ideas and hard science in these books is complemented by Adrian’s vibrant prose and skilled story-telling. My all-time favourite series.

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Just got Children of Strife! My other CoT books are paper back and this is hardcover, so I'll have to go get hardcovers for the other ones. Despite the popular opinion I really liked the ending of CoM, and look forward to more of this series! I'll to post my thoughts on CoM in a different thread

Hardcover book of Children of Strife, with a green planet surrounded by a ring of coraline-vines with a spaceship approaching

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S.S. Julian @octopolis.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Did I have many important things to do this afternoon? Yes. Did I spend it drawing Nanimoteuthis haggarti? Also yes. 🐙🦑 #sciart

A digital illustration of red and yellow nanaimoteuthis haggarti predating a blue mosasaur, by SS Julian. Watermark reads octopoliscomic.com

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

What do I think about the giant Cretaceous octopuses? - First that I'm delighted people are asking me 😁 - Second that WOW! Scientists used an amazing technique to discover HUGE fossil cephalopod beaks! 🤩 - Third that OH BOY do I have questions...🧵🧪🐙 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans

Top predators drive changes in ecosystem structure. For the last ~370 million years, large-sized vertebrates have dominated the apex of the marine food chain, while invertebrates have served as smalle...

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

This is the biggest issue with the new paper. If this gets dug into more though I'd love to see the results!

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Revolutionary Games Studio @revolutionarygamesstudio.com · 20/04/2026

A Thrive-inspired speculative evolution video by one of team members is releasing in two days!

youtube.com

Biosphere of Pangonia Episode 1: Biodiversification Explosion

YouTube video by Juuzo_Lenz214

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Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

OMG Vitreledonella carry eggs!!! #MarineLife OceanX seems to have a page but it is private so I'm not tagging them.

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WoRMS @marinespecies.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

(9/10) Poseidon’s Squid was found in the stomach of a sperm whale. www.marinespecies.org/worms-top-te... @cefafalopodo.bsky.social @ieo.es @gi.ieo.es @icmcsic.bsky.social #toptenmarinespecies #taxonomistappreciationday #OceanDecade #GenOcean

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

It's time for your regularly scheduled reminder: Narwhals and giant squid: They're real and they're spectacular! Megalodon: It was real, but is definitely super-duper extinct now. Mermaids: Not real. (No, manatees do not count). Thanks, The Management

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Here are some examples of paralarvae with odd morphology that I will be studying in a few months! Figure from Vidal E. A. G. and Shea E. K. (2023) Cephalopod ontogeny and life cycle patterns. Front. Mar. Sci. 10:1162735. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1162735

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Thank you @invertebabe.bsky.social for sending me these! I really appreciate them and they look amazing!

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Whuff that’s a GOOD squid

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

I have officially been accepted into the Master's program of Coastal and Oceanic Systems (PGSISCO) at Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)! I will be studying the morphology of mesopelagic squid paralarvae! The plan is to start in August. I'm flying to Alaska for work in the meantime!

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Amazing idea, I love it! Thank you! Two versions as I'm not sure which I like better.

Drawing of a toy capsule vending machine with one of the spherical capsules rolling out of the dispenser. But all the capsules are eggs containing baby flamboyant cuttlefish! The structural parts of the machine are colored in red and black.

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Ian McCourry @squids-discover.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

@echinoblog.bsky.social I have a starfish that I am struggling to identify. Could you please help? It is a super common sea star that is sold all over the place, and the only common name I could find is "White Finger Starfish", or "White Pencil Starfish", but no scientific name I could find.

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仂㌠(べるしそら) @ikas9uidcalamar.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

そういう解釈のアマビエ(独自の主張)

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Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Onychoteuthid from @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 453 East Cortes Basin #designingthefuture2 #MarineLife

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Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

🐙📷Addison Emery Verrill, Schmidt Ocean

A Steamed hams meme. Two panels.First panel has Superintendent Chalmers looking forward and holding a hamburger to show it has been grilled, but a drawing of a Seven-armed octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) has been edited in, so it sort of looks like he is holding it. The eight arms of the octopus are clearly visible. Subtitles read "Yes, and you're called the seven-arm octopus despite the fact that you obviously have eight?" Second panel has the shot from behind and to right of Superintendent Chalmers, with Principal Skinner visible from across the table. A photo of a Seven-armed octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) has been edited over Skinner's head. The octopus is pink and gelatinous. The drawing of the octopus from the first panel is edited to look like it is Chalmer's hand. The subtitles say "Ye- you know, the- one thing I should-" as Skinner is stammering for an answer.

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Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Idk if this is a different Cranchiid or the same as the post before. The chromatophores are showing nicely. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 895 #livingbioreactors #MarineLife

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Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Because giant squid (Architeuthis dux) in the deep sea and humans do not, we don't interact with them much, leading some to believe that they are rare. However, the estimates for the total giant squid population are in the millions, with some of the higher estimates being over a hundred million.

A "They don't know meme." A basic black and white ms paint drawing depicts a man wearing a party hat and holding a drink standing in the corner at a party, while he watches four other people dancing and enjoying themselves. He has a slightly tired and bored expression, and text next him to says "They don't know there are millions of giant squid in the ocean"

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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Invertebrate DLC for Megaquarium WHAT www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH5r...

youtube.com

Megaquarium: Invertebrilliant Collection (Trailer)

YouTube video by Tim Twice Circled

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feeb 🔜 BosBAF @magicmooshka.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

it’s come to my attention that my tumblr post has been crossposted to bluesky, so I’m posting it on my account here #AntiAI #GenAI

recently my friend's comics professor told her that it's acceptable to use gen AI for script-writing but not for art, since a machine can't generate meaningful artistic work. meanwhile, my sister's screenwriting professor said that they can use gen AI for concept art and visualization, but that it won't be able to generate a script that's any good. and at my job, it seems like each department says that AI can be useful in every field except the one that they know best.

It's only ever the jobs we're unfamiliar with that we assume can be replaced with automation. The more attuned we are with certain processes, crafts, and occupations, the more we realize that gen AI will never be able to provide a suitable replacement. The case for its existence relies on our ignorance of the work and skill required to do everything we don't.

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