Dr. Diana Li

A composite image of me from the red carpet at the Hoppers premiere with the Hoppers logo and several hoppers characters.

After about 5 years (!) of keeping secrets, I am so excited that Disney Pixar's Hoppers is finally coming out on March 6th!

Back in 2021, Pixar emailed me asking if I could give a talk about my research to their employees. Then another talk. And another.

📸 Disney/Jesse Grant/Getty Images

Woohoo! Very proud of my public programs teammates who lead this effort and our colleagues at numerous partnering organizations that put on such fun, impactful science programs each month! 🧠🧪

Saturday Science participants, photo by Sirin Samman

Saturday Science participants, photo by Sirin Samman

Saturday Science participants, photo by Sirin Samman

Saturday Science participants, photo by Sirin Samman

Our Saturday Science program welcomed the 10,000th brainy visitor last month! Join us at our next free, public event on March 28! Have some hands-on fun and explore how the brain helps us think, move and learn. Register here:

www.eventbrite.com/e/saturday-s...

📸 Photos by Sirin Samman

Neil Renic @NC_Renic: Junior scholars: "l feel awkward citing myself" Senior scholars: "as I cleverly argued (1988; 1991), admirably reiterated (1993; 1995; 1996); and handsomely concluded (2001; 2004; 2007)..."

Truly! I have already achieved the first version of this milestone at work because we have a high-school internship program 🥲

The emotional journey I went on from “ooh Hopkins rose“ to ”omg LOVE her artwork” to “wait this is from the kid who helped me test 2nd grade curricula bc THAT’s how old she was when I defended??” to “oh god it’s been HOW many years since I finished grad school“ 🫨

A European Common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) exhibiting the "disruptive" pattern. It is sitting on some black pebbles that are about as big as the cuttlefish. There a some light brown pebbles to the side. The cuttlefish is facing away from the camera. The cuttlefish is showing a pattern that contains white square in the middle of its mantle. The rest of its skin is a mix of dark and light brown that looks like sand.

So cool to see a cuttlefish mimicking a pancake

🦑📷Chris Isaacs (inaturalist.ca/observations...)

Thoughts & prayers to the EPA :(

My department is hiring a Teaching Professor in Marine Biology!
northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...
Application review will begin on March 31, 2026 #EcoEvoJobs #EvolJobs #PhDjobs @ecoevo.social.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy

Illustration of a limpet shell

9/ Crabs did it 5 times.

Limpets did it 54.

So next time someone posts a carcinisation meme, please remember what does evolutionay peak performance look like.

1/ Everyone keep talking about carcinisation. Nature keeps evolving crabs. It's even a meme now.

Five ≠ origins of the crab body plan in decapod crustaceans. Truly impressive. But what if I told you that in term of convergent evolution, crabs are amateurs ?

🧪 🦑 🌊 🌍

Ugh, I said I would mute but I'm back for a couple of things. 1. People are upset I said "obviously" ai. This is amazing to me. No bird has one singular wing and no tail. That was the immediate giveaway for me. Then there's so much more.

Obvious ai manipulation on the left. Original photo by David Batcheller on the right. Look at the wings, feather shape, head, neck and bill shape, lack of tail etc. This is way more than a filter and absolutely destroys the joy and wonder of the original.

So loads of people are sharing an obvious ai "glow up" of an actual photo. I never share ai stuff even to dunk, but in this case I'm sharing a comparison to show the problem. We have to stand against this slop at every level or it becomes normalised. They want us to stop caring. See alt text.

David L Batcheller on Instagram: "The first Roseate Spoonbill to arrive at Huntley Meadows Park in 2021. Photo by David Batcheller taken 07.05.2021" 444 likes, 24 comments - davidlbatcheller on July 30, 2021: "The first Roseate Spoonbill to arrive at Huntley Meadows Park in 2021. Photo by David Batcheller taken 07.05.2021".

Someone posted the photographer's Instagram in the replies, so I'm copying it here to make it easy to find.
www.instagram.com/p/CR92P99L072

🏆 Our science communication awards are now open!

These awards recognize exceptional science journalists, communicators, and researchers whose work in 2025 made #STEM accessible and engaging for broad audiences.

Deadline: April 3, 2026

Apply now: www.nationalacademies.org/awards/excel... #scicomm

6 bad doodles with text under each one. horseshoe crab is literally the animal horseshoe crab. shoehorse crab is a crab riding a shoe, cowboy style. crabshoe horse is a horse wearing literal crabs as shoes. shoecrab horse is a horse telling a crab to go away. crabhorse shoe is a pair of shoes, left one crab shaped, right one horse shaped. horsecrab shoe is literally the same pair of shoes, flipped.

#InvertebrateShitposting as per @joabaldwin.com's request

Did you know that the bees that need saving are NOT honeybees?

Honeybees are the dairy cows of bees. People brought them over from Europe to make us honey.

The problem with honeybees, esp in resource-limited ecosystems (like hey! cities!) is that they compete with our native bees for food.

野鳥がたくさん描かれたスマホ壁紙用イラスト

壁紙

A silly simple pen drawing of a paper-clip-shaped ammonite with eyes like those of Clippy the office assistant. A speech bubble reads "It looks like you're evolving. Would you like help?"

Yes yes yes

3 ft tall very cute Mothman plush sits in a chair. He’s wearing a brown knit scarf and has a book open in his lap. He is reading The search for the giant squid. Behind him hangs 2 small paintings and a 6 ft long art print made from an inked impression of a real Humboldt squid. Mothman is giving cozy erudite cryptid vibes.

Hahahah thank you for alerting me to this. Mothman seems pleased with his current book

Omfg LMAO maybe not from that species

BREAKING — NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani says Donald Trump just informed him that Ellie Aghayeva will be “released imminently.”

Mamdani says he expressed his concerns about the Columbia student detained by ICE during his meeting with Trump earlier.

DHS agents detain Columbia student after entering University-owned residence, Shipman reports <i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </i>

fyi the Columbia student newspaper has far more details on the ICE raid on a Columbia residence hall (including the likely name of the student in question) than any of the journalists y'all are reposting who aren't on campus. 🙂 support student journalism!

I can't be the only one who is made /uncomfortable/ by the way that razor clams burrow into sand, right?

The final moments of this video by Kate Crump on the Oregon coastline are sort of the crowning glory of horror. 😬

But how does this even work?
Let's talk about bivalve mobility (if we must).

Belly laughed at the “on land” omg

Pen on paper drawing of a pajama squid half-buried in the sand wearing a blue-striped nightcap.

Very simple and silly comic: a blue and a green octopus are elegantly spread out with their arms tips touching, saying "WE R THE BEST AT ACROYOGA." Next to them, a skeptical crab says "O YEAH TRY IT ON LAND." On the far side of the page, the two octopuses lie flabbily together under the weight of gravity.

Simply stylish drawing of a purple squid (a ram's horn squid, Spirula spirula, to be specific). Inside its mantle where its shell ought to be is a flashlight, shining brightly out of where its photophore is located.

Last of the birthday cephalopods! I got a few offline requests:
- pajama squid with nightcap
- two octopuses doing acroyoga
- how bioluminescence works in squid

Ctenopalooza Ctwo • MBARI Ctenopalooza Ctwo – a meeting of those interested in ctenophores About the meeting The past decade has seen remarkable advances in our understanding of these fascinating animals—spanning genomics, cel...

🧪📍🌊 🦑🍎 We’re excited to announce that we are organizing a second ctenophore meeting — Ctenopalooza Ctwo — to be held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Monterey Bay, California, on August 23–25, 2026.
Registration is now open!
www.mbari.org/event/ctenop...

Tag yourselves

Lmao Prof Pulpo

Simple pen sketch of a purple octopus attempting to knit with green yarn. Two of the octopus's arms are being used as knitting needles. The octopus looks puzzled.

thank you!! with compliments and apologies to your bestie, as I'm afraid I don't know any more about knitting than this poor octopus