iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 20h

Isn't this gorgeous?!?! I think maybe the publisher is on here (Tiny Bat Press). ETA: this was the post wandering.shop/@aanpress/1169750324…

The dust jacket of a slim hardcover book titled "Morty Takes A Walk" with a watercolor drawing of a blue hairless cat and some pink stars and sparkles. The book is by "jessicapixie"

A random page spread from inside the book showing a watercolor drawing of a sloth on one side. On the other it says "The world grew quiet. a prickley rustle. the creeping of trees. The glowing light got brighter. And then, there she was! The sloth!"

There is a glowing watercolor crystal and then more text

"'Who are you?' she asked. 'I am Morty.' Morty said. 'I am a sphinx cat, but I have a fuzzy tail. Do you think..I could be magical? Do you think...I could fly?"

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

I am really, really irrationally annoyed by our chemical inventory system claiming an entry was "AI generated" when I have to enter all of the data manually. And sometimes it overwrites my SMILES code and removes the structure entirely. (We can't go back […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

Screen shot of a data entry web form that says UC Irvine on top.

Below that it says "TCEP-Biotin" and a little robot head and processing, and then you can see the structure of th molecule, the CAS number, formula, and physical state.

The same screen, but now the page says "AI generated" with that little sparkle symbol next to the compound name.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

Well the cake is out of the oven, but I'm not terribly optimistic about getting it out of the pan intact. Also there was _a lot_ of liquid before it started to cool, so it might be a mushy mess. I may have used more cherries than was called for... #EBTSC

A cake pan filled with a lightly browned cake studded with partially buried cherries that floated up from the bottom during baking. It is quite clearly not pulling away from the edges of the pan as it cools. The smell-o-vision is pretty good though, heavy on the delicious cake smell.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2026

RE: wandering.shop/@aanpress/1169750324… I'm backing (yet another) kickstarter for a children's book when I don't have kids. But the artwork in this is too charming not to. #Bookstodon

A collage of a large water color style painting of a hairless cat mostly in purple with pink clouds and gold stars. Inset is the book cover were the hairless cat is blue and pink. The book is titled "Morty Takes a Walk" words and pictures by jessicapixie.
In the center overlaying the art is a pair of black bats and the words "from tiny bat press" and then comes a magical adventure *Morty Takes a Walk*

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/05/2026

Slightly over 30 miles later and I'm wiped. Towing the trailer is a lot of work! Tempted to replace my current avatar with this photo, but I don't want to brag or anything. If anyone is curious: the roof mounted bike racks will fit the cross bars on a […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

A yellow touring style steel road bike with black panniers leaning against a large diameter palm tree. Attached to the rear is a black bike trailer with open framework sides. The front and back frames have been turned on their sides (they aren't supposed to do this, but the previous owner didn't assemble it well) and a full sized Yakima front loader bike carrier meant for the roof of a car is mounted using its standard mounts on the trailer. The end of the carrier has a bright orange flag taped to the back so that it was clearly visible while I was riding.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2026

When you go to get something out of the cabinet (which turned out not to be there anyway) and discover something else is _A Problem_. This was the boron tribal ice with the "use in three months of pack date" that I was shipped in July of last year. I […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

A white plastic jar labeled BBr3 packed 2026-05-27 on top that has visible clear droplets on the outside. The labels have also been turned black.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/04/2026

Want to see something neat? Bad news for me, but a technique most people no longer use? 2D TLC proved that not only do I have decomposition on silica gel, but based on the structure (which I can't provide here) I know what is likely happening in terms of […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

Three thin layer chromatography plates stained with ninhydrin so the background is light pink-orange and the spots range from purple to orange brown (and weirdly white on one of them)
Left plate (a skinny plate with one spot): has a major spot very low to the baseline and then a dark streak to the middle of the plate

Middle plate: a standard three spot plate (starting material, co-spot, reaction mixture) where it is clear there is still starting material left, but most of the plate is a mess of spots that moved further up, they look reasonably distinct and not too streaky

Right plate: a 2D TLC plate that is a square, where there is a single X in the lower right corner for the starting spot, you can see at least two off-diagonal spots that are clearly from decomposition of higher moving spots, while the major product spot from the middle plate doesn't seem to be generating them and remains on the diagonal to the X along with the starting material, which is pretty close to the X now

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/02/2026

I think I won the award for "weirdest bike mechanical problem of the week". I'm not sure it's one I wanted to win. Ended up walking a significant distance in bike shoes, adding an extra hour to my commute. #BikeTooter

Two pieces of a bracket on a table. One of them has part of a bolt through it, but the bolt has no end that can be gripped with a tool.

Bike missing the seat and the bracket that attaches the seat, because the bracket is sitting on the counter in the previous photo.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/02/2026

I never take photos of my mise en place, but figured I'd at least submit an "in progress" shot after I'd tidied up a bit. As usual with me there have been _extensive_ modifications to the recipe, mostly to account for wanting to lower the amount of sugar. #EBTSC #Baking #mastonom

On a wooden counter there is a deep dish tart pan with a light tan colored dough with darker flecks thanks to using unbalanced almond flour. The dough had obviously been pressed into the pan by hand as the finger impressions are visible.

Next to it is a notebook with writing in pen on one side of the page and corrections in pencil on the other. In back there is a jar of deep yellow liquid that is partially melted brown butter, and a large metal mixing bowl with a wooden spoon where we can see more of the cake batter.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/10/2025

But Sam, how do you buy groceries without a car?!?! (Also: guess who is giving out ramen for halloween this year? I'm still planning to make cookies, but there is an activation barrier to doing that which I haven't gotten over in the two weeks since I made the plan.) #CarryShitOlympics

A pile of groceries on a wooden counter. There are four 12 packs of top ramen (chicken flavor), a box of hello kitty ramen, two packs of fancy "naked organics" hamburger buns, two containers of those cute little tomatoes, and a large bag of green grapes. The ramen tower is tall enough it's sort of absurd and reaches above the edge of the window curtain (which comes nowhere close to the counter).

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2025

Crystallography & structural biology folks: does anyone still use these? I've been finding stray ones around and now found what looks like an entire case of them. No idea if they are remnants of stuff because the lab was here for a long time or if I should […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

A small glass rectangle with 9 hemispherical depressions in a 3 by 3 grid.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2025

(Dr. Frankenstein voice) It's Alive!!! Huffy customer service was pretty good for someone who didn't buy the bike from them in the first place. Though sending me a total of 8 nuts and 0 washers was an interesting choice (it was supposed to be 2 of each […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

Poorly lit photo of two bikes. There is a silver & black beach cruiser in front that has a ridiculously tiny front basket and a giant cushy seat. In back there is a yellow road bike with black & silver accents.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2025

Me: This stuff is really expensive and I would prefer a version with this other side chain that isn't commercially available. How hard could it be to make? Me after reading the literature: #Chemistry #ChemiVerse #LabLife

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/01/2025

You know stuff is getting real on the moving front when the shelving I told my supervisor I never, ever wanted to have to take apart is coming out. I'm sort of inordinately proud of these. The dimensions of the foot wells where we wanted shelves were such […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

Three wire shelves of the sort used in storage rooms and restaurants wedged into a gap between the drawers in a lab bench. There are a number of dish bins and drying glassware on them.

A partially disassembled version of the same shelves where the front two posts have been removed and you can see how the back posts are behind the lip on the floor. You can also see how tightly the shelves were in there since the one left isn't actually being supported on the front and is still a couple of inches off the ground because the back is prevented from sliding further down the posts due to lack of space.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/01/2025

And on the other fire: a faculty member I collaborate with at UCI commutes from LA (I know, right?) and I asked how she was doing on slack. This photo is apparently by the exit to her house. She's packed but they haven't told her to evacuate yet. #PalisadesFire

Fire crossing between two mountains, lit up against the night sky. There are a pair of green highway signs for Skirball Ctr Dr and Getty Ctr Dr visible in the corner.

Not sure if this is courtesy or Lauren Albrecht or if she got it from the news or a local friend, but she's the one who shared it with me.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/12/2024

Here it is! This seems like the sort of thing that the someone would love to have. Appears to be made of steel and there is a little round hole in the hair for mounting it with a nail or tack. Since the size was smaller than I expected I *think* I could […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

A small red silhouette of a cyclist standing on the pedals for more power on a road bike. Their hair is streaming behind them. Next to the sculpture is a metal ruler indicating that it is less than 12 cm tall.

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Sam Levine @srlevine.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/11/2024

I try to include the flaws when I talk about my baking and how I am very much not a professional (and you don't have to be either!). As you can see I have never in my life managed to roll dough into a perfect square/rectangle. This was particularly […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]

A mishappen trapezoid-ish shape of dough. It sort of looks like the US state of Arkansas if you squint a bit. The bottom edge is basically hanging off the silicon pastry work mat and is horribly off center. The dough is a light wheat color and is covered in a thick layer of a dark brown chocolate paste.

A fondant pin is visible to one side and a messy glass measuring cup with the remnants of the chocolate paste, a spatula and fork, are also visible.

In the very back are the base of my food processor and my fancy butter dish.

Two neatly rolled logs of dough. They are the same light wheat color as the unrolled dough, but are now in long tubes with only a couple of chocolate finger prints visible. They are resting on a piece of waxed canvas with a red and white checkerboard pattern, which in turn is on an aluminum half sheet pan.

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