- A proposal was floated to automate the entire workforce by first modeling routine jobs as open-source software packages and then distributing the resulting profits through universal stock ownership to achieve “equal pay for equal work.”  
- Historical precedents for large-scale automation were explored, including Stafford Beer’s 1970s Project Cybersyn—a telex-networked economic control system in Chile—and MIT’s global Fab Lab network, which now includes mobile fabrication units deployed in Ghana and South Africa.  
- DIY biohackers are evaluating Acinetobacter ADP1 as a safer, less-regulated chassis organism for home labs, while also investigating biomining techniques that use acidophile microbes and microalgae to recover metals from wastewater.  
- An in-progress “brain on a disc” Linux live-CD aims to bundle NEURON, GENESIS, PDP++, and other computational-neuroscience tools for cerebellum simulation, and participants noted Thomas DeMarse’s prior success in using cultured neurons to fly simulated jets.  
- Open hardware for synthetic biology includes the POSaM inkjet oligonucleotide synthesizer/microarrayer (http://bioinformatics.org/pogo/), and participants shared practical sourcing tips for calcium chloride—cheaply made from limestone or bought in 50-lb de-icing bags.  
- A life-logging experiment that records sleep and activity in a plain-text file produced a heat-map visualization (http://fennetic.net/pub/irc/sleepz/test.html) now being mined for circadian-rhythm insights.  
- Ultra-efficient personal transport concepts discussed include 96-mpg diesel motorcycles, 129-mpg Honda Unicorn ICE bikes, and a folding electric moped design (http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_set.asp?individual_id=89369&set_id=34598).  
- Participants warned that ITAR regulations restrict open development of centrifuges, six-axis mills, biotech equipment, and VASIMR propulsion, framing the rules as a codified “do no harm” barrier to open-source space tech.