• kanzure_ is building an automated design generator (SKDB) that converts user-drawn functional graphs into concrete hardware designs by applying a rule database of parts and processes; the current prototype prints “Match in 12681.dot with transfer” and is planned to be demonstrated in a screencast.

• The same engine is being adapted for synthetic biology: kanzure_ is waiting for xp_prg to finish SBML-generation code that will let the tool output complete BioBrick-compatible genetic circuits, including math rate functions, user prompts, complex specifications, binding details and protein-inducer data.

• Discussion of Hod Lipson’s TED talk and Cornell “Golem” project on evolutionary robotics: participants note that the evolved Lego-like robots are conceptually simple (NeHe tutorial level graphics) and criticize the coarse servo/actuator model; nanotech-level actuators with many degrees of freedom are proposed as the next step.

• Open data and reverse engineering efforts mentioned: mining the entire web and the patent database for usable parts/processes, plus scraping Seekda.com, to populate SKDB’s rule set.

• Links shared: TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/165, Cornell robot-evolution video http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/research/golem/golem480x240.wmv, kanzure_’s own “supermetal” screenshot gallery http://heybryan.org/shots/, and a large parts-ontology repo http://heybryan.org/~bbishop/docs/repo/.

• Elsevier’s upcoming 2009 ScienceDirect interface was accidentally exposed (demo/demo credentials found via Google), prompting kanzure_ to poke around their staging servers and RSS/RDF feeds.

• procto reports initial contact with an Ethiopian clinic director about using DIYbio-generated blueprints for on-site fabrication of medicines and medical devices; kanzure_ suggests connecting with Guido and Andrew Hessel for an automated DIY biotech toolchain.

• wrldpc uploads a PDF of Kurzweil’s “The Singularity Is Near” to Scribd and asks for a PDF of “Ending Aging”; drazak wonders about the cost of double-barrel whole-human-genome sequencing.

• faceface points to myjournals.org (journal-login aggregator), a Nature News piece on “Wikiomics,” and an executable-English wiki over databases; UtopiahGHML experiments with DBpedia and Freebase to extract U.S. state data.

• fenn introduces “knowledge-based engineering” as a relevant buzzword and laments Wikimedia’s restrictive screenshot policy; general banter follows about trust in Google, journal-club Google-Base entries, and IRC memes.