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Abstract Double emulsions with core‐shell structures are versatile materials used in applications such as cell culture, drug delivery, and materials synthesis. A droplet library with precisely controlled dimensions and properties would streamline screening and optimization for specific applications. While microfluidic droplet generation offers high precision, it is typically labor‐intensive and sensitive to disturbances, requiring continuous operator intervention. To address these limitations, we present an artificial intelligence (AI)‐empowered automated double emulsion droplet library generator. This system integrates a convolutional neural network (CNN)‐based object detection model, decision‐making, and feedback control algorithms to automate droplet generation and collection. The system monitors droplet generation every 171 ms—faster than a Formula 1 driver's reaction time—ensuring rapid response to disturbances and consistent production of single‐core double emulsions. It autonomously generates libraries of 25 distinct monodisperse droplets with user‐defined properties. This automation reduces labor and waste, enhances precision, and supports rapid and reliable droplet library generation. We anticipate that this platform will accelerate discovery and optimization in biomedical, biological, and materials research. 

The Plio-Pleistocene turnover event in the western Atlantic following the closure of the Central American Seaway involved high rates of extinction for both gastropod and bivalve molluscs. This extinction was associated with declining nutrient conditions and has been presumed to be associated with a decrease in molluscan body size. Previous work which has been concordant with this expectation, however, has either focused on bivalves or not considered the effects of the recovery post extinction. In three phylogenetically diverse clades, we found that body-size evolution in gastropods across the turnover event is likely tied to ecology. One clade increased in size, one decreased, and another exhibited no substantial change. Individual species lineages exhibit a mixture of microevolutionary changes from the Pliocene to today. This study indicates that gastropod body-size evolution may be more complex than in bivalves, with ecology and other functional traits playing a significant role. Macroevolutionary processes, especially whether a clade re-radiated post extinction, were found to be important. Indeed, a low portion of extant diversity consists of survivors from clades that increased in size or have similar size distributions among their species relative to the Pliocene. 

Spiral ribs are among the most common morphological features in mollusk shells and previous studies have shown them to have functional significance with expected evolutionary consequences. Many previous studies, however, have treated these features as potentially analogous across taxa, without examining whether they may have important constructional dissimilarities. Mollusk shells are made of multiple layers of calcite or aragonite which may exhibit different microstructure or microstructure orientations which may in turn impact their mechanical properties. In this study, five specimens of marine mollusks with spiral ribs, including three turritellid gastropods and two bivalves, were examined under SEM to examine microstructure of ribbed region in comparison of non-ribbed region. SEM imaging revealed differences in the number and thickness of distinct microstructural layers of each shell and allowed comparisons to be made between the ribbed and non-ribbed region of each specimen, providing a greater understanding of how these ribs were constructed during shell deposition. Ribs in all specimens are formed through the thickening of single or multiple crossed-lamellar layers, but differences in rib ultrastructures were found among species and different ribs of same species, showing great diversity and complexity of constructional mechanisms. This diversity in rib construction might indicate heterology in the development of shell sculpture, especially mechanisms for differences in concurrently deposited rib strength. This is especially notable for turritellids where the pattern of onset of spiral ornamentation is phylogenetically informative, suggesting homology of rib identity. Further study will be conducted on turritellid gastropods in different lineages to explore the taxonomic meaning of different rib constructional mechanisms. 

The Plio-Pleistocene regional mass extinction of molluscan fauna of Florida and the US Atlantic coastal plain was followed by a period of rapid origination, resulting in similar modern regional species richness. Predator and prey relationships were impacted by high extinction rates across all taxa. Previous studies have suggested that the extinction is associated with a possible system-wide decline in predation intensity, but data from additional prey species both prior to and after the extinctions are needed to determine how general this pattern may be. We examined predatory trace fossils on turritellid gastropods, a clade which experienced substantial extinction during this time. Overall rates of peeling predation on turritellid gastropods across the extinction boundary decreased – with turritellid species having an average peel-repair frequency of 0.41 in the Plio-Pleistocene compared to a frequency of 0.16 in modern samples. However, in the two surviving lineages, Turritella perexilis and Torcula exoleta, peel-repair frequency was similar in the Plio-Pleistocene samples and in modern samples. Fossil T. perexilis had a peel frequency of 0.26, compared to the modern samples’ peeling frequency of 0.14. Fossil T. perattenuata had a peeling frequency of 0.18, while its descendant, T. exoleta, had a peeling frequency of 0.17. Additionally, the incidence of multiple attacks in modern samples is markedly lower. While a majority (89%) of turritellid species went extinct during this event, most fossil species had higher peel-repair frequencies than fossils of the surviving lineages. In contrast with peeling frequency, the frequency of drilling predation on modern descendants is higher than their fossil ancestors (0.21 vs 0.02 and 0.14 vs. 0.11 for T. exoleta/T. perattenuata and T. perexilis, respectively). Across all species, drilling increased from an average of 0.11 in the Plio-Pleistocene samples to 0.19 in modern samples. These results suggest that as turritellid prey diversity decreased, predators may have adapted to attack surviving species, or these lineages may have become more vulnerable to their predators. 

Preliminary data indicate between the latest Pliocene and recent approximately 85% of bivalves and 90% of gastropod species in Florida and the Atlantic Coastal Plain became extinct, with high levels of origination resulting in similar total species richness in the region today. We expected this event may have impacted molluscan body size as body size in mollusks is generally correlated with nutrient availability and primary productivity, which decreased following the Pliocene closure of the Central American Seaway. Previous work indicated small body size is associated with extinction survival during this event in both bivalves and gastropods. Where all extant and Pliocene members of surviving bivalve clades have been compared, these have also declined in size; comparable studies of all extant and Pliocene members of gastropod clades have not yet, however, been undertaken. We investigated 3 families of gastropods of differing ecology with both high turnover and at least one boundary-crossing lineage in order to assess the impact of the turnover event on each clade’s body size. These were the predatory Conidae, the herbivorous Tegulidae, and the suspension-feeding Turritellidae. These had approximately 65%, 75%, and 90% extinction, respectively, with modern­ diversity at 110%, 100%, and 10% of their respective Pliocene species richness in the region. Despite high levels of turnover, we found no general pattern of body-size change associated with the event either within clades or among boundary-crossing lineages. While many of the largest species of Conidae and Turritellidae did become extinct, this was balanced by the loss of smaller-bodied species, while the Tegulidae increased in size. Among ancestor-descendant pairs, 1 turritellid decreased in size while 1 remained unchanged, 4 Conidae decreased in size while 2 increased in size, and 1 tegulid increased in size. These data suggest that for gastropods there were complex interactions between ecology, extinction, origination, and body-size evolution associated with this event and that a more phylogenetically-diverse dataset is needed to determine whether generalizable patterns exist which may be used to predict responses to future environmental change.