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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Free moth making with Jasmine Saunders - the second of the Cocoon Residency events as part of our collab with the UK Moth Virome Project (University of Exeter and Butterfly Conservation, led by @b_longdon, funded by NERC) These are free drop in events […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Illustration of moths connected by curved and straight lines, with text that reads - free ceramic moth workshop, Fri 16th/Sat 24th Oct, 11-2pm drop in in the greenhouse at potager garden

Illustration of lots of moths with a few connecting lines between them, logos for University of Exeter, Then Try This, and NERC, with text reading - Join our collaborative sculpture inspired by moth research, led by Cocoon Resident Jasmine Saunders

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

Lovely week with the first Cocoon resident, Melanie Hyo-In Han, working with us and the UK Moth Virome Project gang led by @ben. Mel ran a moth poetry workshop (and one participant instantly recruited her to run another a few days later). We also had a […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Poetry workshop in a greenhouse with people sat around a long wood table. A small black dog is also seated at the table.

Three residents and moth expert crouched down, and various other people, around a very bright light at night, looking at moths

Mel with her first ever moth she caught, with another person in a head torch and a young person with their back to the camera

Mel's Instagram post with a photo of her first moth - which is called a Snout moth because it has a long nose

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

Our first Cocoon resident, Melanie Hyo-In Han, has arrived in Cornwall and is getting ready to run a poetry workshop on Monday. We'll all be brilliantly out of our comfort zones attempting poetic wordplay on moths and migration, with participants […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Inside a big greenhouse with a table and seats under a large wisteria plant that forms a canopy. The evening light is casting some long shadows inside.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Meet the newest member of our studio! Lucy is joining the @alpaca project for a couple of years, helping to figure out the best ways to share the research online, with a focus on community building and marginalised groups. This is part of @yaxu's […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Text says Welcome to the Then Try This gang: Lucy Cheesman, alongside a photo of a person smilling

Text reads: Lucy Cheesman has joined us to work part-time on the UKRI funded Alpaca project. She'll be looking at better ways to share research online, informed by permacomputing principles.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026

Some creatures from earlier on. We recorded some good sounds of them scratching and working away, also attempted some hummingbird hawkmoth recordings on a buddleja but I think the wind was probably too high... Surprisingly the cheaper contact mics […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Ants drinking sugar water on a piece of paper

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

Hidden Worlds: Art, Insects and Ecological Citizenship Very late notice for a free workshop we're doing tomorrow at United Downs Raceway with Falmouth University. We're going to be making art with insects in various ways, listening to them and making […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

"Hidden Worlds: Art, Insects and Ecological Citizenship"

"Free workshop! Make art with insects this Sunday at United Downs Raceway with us and Falmouth University."

"A machine for listening to six ants' nests simultaneously"

A photo of a small mixer with headphones connected to six coiled cables with contact microphones on the end, all sat on wood chip planting bed with plants in the background.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

We can now say that our studio has an in-house longlisted artist for the World Illustration Awards 😎 🌟

Isometric tetrapak print of a stack of books with titles 'very serious book', 'complicated', 'things and stuff', and 'heavy topics'. Under them there are two little human legs sticking out, from a squished person.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

Dig for Dirt has gone live 🌱 We're looking for growers and farmers to collectively find out more about the microbes under our feet. Soil bacteria can help clean up the toxic pollution that is the legacy of mining in our area, but very little is known […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Dig for Dirt is ready for you! With an isometric illustration of crop plants on one layer and soil bacteria on a lower layer

Do you grow food, flowers or keep livestock in the South-West UK? This could be in a garden, an allotment, a smallholding, or a commercial farm of any scale.

With a simple illustration of some kale.

Can you provide a small soil sample to help understand how bacteria clean up mining pollution? You'll get a simple sampling pack from us for collecting some soil, with the return post paid for.

With a simple illustration of a trowel in some soil.

In return for your time you will have access to your own soil bacteria
results, and see how they compare to others in the South West. You will also receive a beautiful printed photograph of your soil bacteria!

With a simple illustration of an old mine engine house.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026

Cornish Semiconductor Corporation is now supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Dave got a Research and Development grant for individuals grant to make noise with mine waste. More info here […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Crystals in crocodile clips with diy circuits underneath and a synthesiser (a SH101) in the foreground.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026

If you're in Bristol, Dave will be taking part remotely in a panel discussion today at the Centre for Creative Technologies Showcase, talking about Then Try This. It's free entry and happening at 1PM: Bristol Digital Futures Institute, University of […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Showcase programme 8TH MAY BRISTOL DIGITAL FUTURES INSTITUTE
[Temple Quarter]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

Jasmine Saunders is a ceramicist and Natural Science student who loves supporting people in learning through tactile creativity. Together, we will get our hands stuck in carving and moulding clay to each make small moth sculptures. Using plant imprint […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Photo of Jasmine with three overlaid simple moth illustrations

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

Melanie Hyo-In Han will be working on a poetry pamphlet about moths and the viruses that affect them. In Korean culture, moths have long been associated with spirits and memory; drawing on these symbolisms, as well as her own experiences with migration […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Photo of Melanie with two simple overlaid moth illustrations

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

Charlotte Evans lost her dad 4 years ago to Motor Neurone Disease - she’s done a lot of thinking over the past few years on freedom, movement and illness. Charlotte looks to draw a comparison between humans and moths with the aim to educate people […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Photo of Charlotte with some overlaid moth illustrations

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/03/2026

An essay on illustrating complex information, from graphs to graphic novels thentrythis.org/notes/2026/03/16/il…

ink print of people sitting on and leaning against a 3d bar graph, which is floating in a dark void

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/02/2026

So much khipu documentation is paywalled, copyrighted or otherwise owned (not often by Andean people, of course) so we've been doing some drawing for this workshop to explain how to make your own khipu. All the workshop materials will be creative commons CC-BY.

"How to make a khipu", drawn diagram of knots, thread tied together and some of the components explained, a hitch knot, multiple overhand knot that represents the number 4 and a figure of eight knots which represents the number 1.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Little workshop this weekend in Falmouth on behalf of The Poly. Come play with Andean/Inca knotted string records (called Khipu), and walking robots made from braided textiles which you can control with more knots […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Deadline is just over 2 weeks away for our funded Cocoon residencies. You can be from any background, and these are themed on moths and the viruses that infect them, very niche, but you can take it in any direction you like. 1-4 weeks long, up to […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Part of a riso print of moths, and a dna strand, in greeny yellows.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/01/2026

Refurbishing this pattern matrix for Ellen Harluzius-Klück, who we worked with on her Penelope project. Getting it working with the browser based warp weighed loom simulation. #weaving

16 coloured wooden disks representing a weaving pattern on a felt base with wires and circuits

A weaving draft pattern and the resulting weave

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/01/2026

⭐ Cocoon Residences - Open Call ⭐ We have funded residencies for autumn, themed on moths and their viruses. These are based at our studio in Cornwall, with our support, and working with our long-term collaborator @b_longdon We have tried to make the […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Riso printed image of a hawkmoth cocoon surrounded by different types of moth facing in towards it. There is a strand of DNA twirling behind, and some stars. The text reads 'Cocoon Residencies, Open Call, Deadline 6 March'.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2026

We (@Khipumancer, @yaxu, @julian and @nebogeo) are running a workshop at the Institute for Music and Media Düsseldorf, 31 January: "On being formal: communal informatics, khipu technologies, extractivism, and debt." A convergence of two areas of […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

A mixup of copy pasted khipu strings with knots, tied and untied and a map of lodes in a Cornish mining area, a verticle sliced of the earth from top to bottom.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

Our annual review of projects in 2025 is ready! You can download it below, or if you'd like a hard copy for yourself, or a few for your institution/organisation let us know 💚 gitlab.com/then-try-this/administra…

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/11/2025

Finally got a hold of this record made with samplebrain! Brain Mutants by DMX Krew. A liberal application of disco records and TR 101 samples in quite a full on record... ara-u.bandcamp.com/album/brain-muta… gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain

A green record sleeve propped up next to a record on a turntable

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/11/2025

Our new studio looking exactly as cosy as it is this evening

Single storey shed like building with glowing lights from inside, a tree with fairy lights in it, and a bigger tree shadowed against the sky

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/11/2025

In September we took over Sheffield's Wintergarden with knots and woven robots with @Khipumancer and @yaxu as part of the @alpaca Festival You could create knot patterns based on Inca/Andean Khipu technology that would program the robots remotely, and […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Three children play with woven robots, with scattered cushions on the ground

A group of people manipulating knots on a table

One person examines an knot while children play with robots in the background.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/10/2025

We had a lucky break in the weather yesterday morning to get out with Cornish artist Libita Sibungu to Nangiles mine with our DIY mineral sound recording rig (contact mics and a electromagnetic sensor). As well a sounds, we collected lots of minerals […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Libita Sibungu surrounded by rocks listening to sounds we had just recorded while examining a mineral sample. Also visible are recording equipment, rock hammers and an orange bucket.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2025

We've built a special type of loom designed by Peter Collinwood to create the amazing illustrations in his book "The Techniques of Tablet Weaving". This is to help us closely examine the patterns and mathematics behind this weaving technique on the […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

A row of wooden pegs in holes in a wooden board, with black and white cord woven between them.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2025

Organised Atoms Fun Palace 2025! We smashed rocks, found crystals and raved out in the rock lab. Thanks go to the Royal Society of Chemistry for supporting this kind of thing! thentrythis.org/notes/2025/10/08/or…

Three people with protective googles surrounded by mine waste and concrete structures

Two people playing music on a synth made from a bunch of circuits mounted on a plank of natural wood with a smaller volca modular synth wired up to it.

Two people looking at a microscope image on a monitor with scattered rocks and e-waste on the table.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2025

New-new studio so close to being up and running ✨ be nice to see an end to the relentless moving and carrying and shelf building and to be back in the world

Photo of some shelves with books, some tangling trailing plants on the top shelf, and our studio sign propped up. There is a lot of ambient light.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2025

First bits in our new spot, welcome to the 'Propagation Studio', it is the nicest place we've ever been

A long wood table in an otherwise empty room. The space has a sloped ceiling with a large roof window and a tree visible above. There are two simple black and white pendant lights. It is painted white, with a polished concrete floor.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2025

So our spot in Gray's Wharf will be available from 1 Oct if anyone happens to want a decent size studio with a humane landlord...

Square studio with lovely exposed wood beams and high ceiling. The floor is painted grey, it has lots of our things in it including our prized plants!

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2025

We only just moved studio, but unexpectedly then got offered one we've had our eye on for a whole decade... so from September we'll be heading out to Potager as our new work-home! It's a beautiful spot, with hammocks, a huge greenhouse to sit in, a fab […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

A large immaculate polytunnel with 4 rows of tomatoes and chillies

A pink cotton hammock strung between two gnarly lichen covered trees, behind there are more trees and a large table with benches

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2025

We're excited to be hosting Alpaca conference from 12-20th September 2025, with a huge range of talks, workshops and performances exploring algorithmic patterns in the creative arts. Algorithms aren't just about computers, they're also used to make […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2025

We are doing #OrganisedAtoms again this summer, watch this space for dates! Family fun smashing rocks, crystal collecting, identification, microscopes, electronics and NOISE at United Downs Raceway, St Day, #Cornwall We are currently building some of […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

A slice of wood with circuits screwed to the top, connected by wires to two small volca modular synthesisers and a zoom recorder on a wooden workbench

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2025

We're having a little studio warming on 16 Aug, 11am-2pm, at Gray's Wharf in Penryn - all welcome! It'll also be the launch for Drawings About Things (our new illustration and print offerings) so there will be lots of lovely textural print bits and bobs to take a look at.

Etching of a strand of DNA, with a person dragging it out of the etching plate. It also says open studio, 16 Aug, 11am-2pm.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/07/2025

The Royal Society used our game Nergal at their Disability & Technology report launch on 23 June 💚 This is to the best of our knowledge the first time a citizen science game has been made so folks with little or no sight can play and contribute data […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Photo of two people playing Nergal at a table, one looking over, and two looking at something on a screen behind. There are opulent looking chandeliers in the background and old dark wood door frames.

Someone playing nergal at a laptop with someone smiling at them. We've overlaid a plant pic from the game and some coloured stripes.

A person grinning while playing the game and another also smiling. We've overlaid a ghosty game character wearing a mushroom hat, and a moon and stars.

Three people looking at Nergal on a screen at a table. We've added a ghost character wearing a pink striped party hat and some stars.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2025

Spent the first half of the week up in London for the Royal Society Summer Exhibition opening night, where we were showing our game Nergal with the folks we made it with at the University of Edinburgh to their 800 or so visitors. Snuck some nergal hats […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

People stood around a table playing nergal game on tablets, two are 'wearing' cardboard hats on sticks, in the background is a huge oil painting of a stern old man, with a nergal hat stuck on (there is glass covering the painting don't worry), at the front one of the University of Edinburgh pair stands over a cut out stood up nergal character.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2025

Showing Nergal at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition opening night, managed to sneak some hats on the old dudes

A grand building with summer science banners and a progress pride flag

Oil painting with a stuck on bobble hat and a bit of a poster about the game

Oil painting with stuck on pussy hat (from the anti trump protests the first time round) and some tablets and a wooden plant shape on a table

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/06/2025

Just got the keys to our new studio, moving over the next 2 weeks 🌱

Almost empty new studio with grey painted floor, a few shelves on the wall, and big wooden beams with a high ceiling. A few bits have been moved in including a monstera plant and some wood benches.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2025

Frantic prop making is DONE for the Royal Society Summer exhibition in London next week, come say hi if you're nearby on the 1st from 6-10pm.

Set of laser cut ply plant shapes painted dark blue and standing up, with stand up game characters tucked between them, in our studio

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2025

We've been making life size Nergals for the Royal Society Summer Exhibition (Oatly for scale 😆) royalsociety.org/science-events-and…

Four cut out stand up card characters from our nergal game, the shortest is slightly higher than an Oatly carton, the tallest nearly double.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/06/2025

More info on our Nergal event at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition on the 1st July - come along and meet the nergals! royalsociety.org/science-events-and… #CitizenScience

Screenshot of Royal Society website with "Lates: The world of Nergal", and a screenshot of the game.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2025

We'll be showing Nergal at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition opening night in London on 1 July, 6-10pm - it's free, come along 🌟 thentrythis.org/events/nergal-at-th…

a little nergal character peeking out from behind a baobab tree, with some other plants and a fluffy cloud - all hand drawn illustrations used in the game

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/05/2025

Documentation just finished for how to build a SmogOff air pollution sensor. These have realtime displays of data, alternating with a smiley, neutral or sad face depending on how bad it is - designed to be put out on the street for local activism […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Three smogoff sensors lined up on a bench, with a black and white dog in front who has a large nose

A smogoff sensor viewed from the front, with a smiley face showing on the screen, a cloud-ish shaped sticker around the screen, and a fluorescent acrylic shelf inside holding the various sensors

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/04/2025

Fiddly process getting new SmogOff sensors designed, to hopefully build and get shipped out by the end of the week?! Balancing needing it to actually work, not look too-too bad, and be easy for people to make without specialist tools

Box with holes at the bottom, a sensor shelf, and a small paper white screen holder on the box cover

The same thing just open in a way where the wiring is visible

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/04/2025

Getting into making prints - these are part of an exhibition on this Tues/Weds at Lovepark in Falmouth, come along if you're around... 5 of the 6 prints outline ways we can do better at communicating climate/environmental issues, based on evidence […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Three prints, white ink on khaki green paper - one is called 'welcome the elephant into the room' and has an illustration of an elephant being handed a cup of tea, one is called 'do the deep dives, even if it's ugly' and has two deep sea fish, and the last one is called 'take care over language' and has a series of 5 species' hands (koala, dog, mouse, gecko, human)

Two embossed toads on a print called 'shine a spotlight on the overlooked'

Embossed polar bear looking up at a wind turbine on a print called 'be wary of polar bears'

embossing of 3 ants with their little footsteps, on a print called 'the small print'

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/04/2025

Mongoose technology being prepared for mongoose behaviour research team in Uganda... big update for the Mongoose2000 system we built them for recording and syncing behavioural data back in 2014, been going strong for over a decade! Made to withstand […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Two raspberry pi based bits of hardware with pink batteries

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/03/2025

ROBOT KNOTS: in the @alpaca lab preparing for tomorrows Andean knots kids workshop at 'Everyday Algorithms' organised by @sk_ in Newcastle.

Hand drawn knots on a large sheet of paper with instructions underneath (short flash, long flash, stop walking, start walking forward, start walking backward, turn left, turn right, fast mode, extra fast mode) with lots of rope with knots and woven robots cluttered around on the table.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2025

Tomorrow night @nebogeo will be streaming #OrganisedAtoms mine waste crystal semiconductor "glitch & scream" live from Cornwall, part of "Zero Volts" at @constant in Brussels: 0v.constantvzw.org This will be followed by an up close and […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Four cardboard boxes with electronic components, springs and wires on a table with some rocks in plastic containers. On a bench below the table, a mixer, guitar pedal and headphones.

A cluster of black metallic anatase crystals on a brown grainy matrix.

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Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/02/2025

Seeking new players for Nergal! Each 5 minute game generates data for epidemiology and public health research, and new player data is particularly useful, so please spread far and wide 💚 There is also a 'night mode' for those with little or no […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Which Nergal would you like to be today? Below the text are three simple little characters, one yellow lemon shaped, one purple cloud shaped, and one green stick shaped.

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