• A pre-print ultrasound brain-stimulation paper (http://heybryan.org/~bbishop/docs/Ultrasound_brain.pdf) was circulated as a candidate non-invasive neuromodulation technique for future open-source BCI work.

• The Blue Brain Project—IBM/EPFL’s $100 M, 125-post-doc effort to reverse-engineer mammalian neocortex—was highlighted through Henry Markram’s Almaden talk and high-resolution neuron-rendering videos, framing it as the largest openly discussed whole-brain emulation program.

• Licensing and governance questions for open-manufacturing repositories (SKDB) were debated: XML design data are not automatically GPL-covered, upstream (ADL) permission is required, and a new Austin-based “GitHub-for-hardware” site (unptnt.com, still in stealth VC-backed pre-alpha) may provide an alternative frontend.

• Practical RepRap progress at UT Austin was reported: all electronics and a working extruder are ready, but the frame is missing; participants proposed using the RAS lab’s CNC mill to fabricate the remaining parts and converging on interchangeable tool-head standards rather than continuing the parallel fab@home effort.

• A cluster of low-cost, human-scale power-generation concepts—shoe-string yank-cord, forearm wind-up, 12 V jiggle generator in a walking staff with ultracaps, and even a carpenter’s hammer with integrated LEDs—were sketched as enablers for truly mobile open-source labs.

• Cognitive-enhancement anecdotes included 60 mg Adderall for sleep-hacking and spaced-repetition study material from Maddox’s site, while NEJM papers on subthalamic-nucleus stimulation for Parkinson’s and severe OCD were mined for ideas on experimentally increasing rather than decreasing obsessive traits.

• Algae-to-fuel experiments in Eugene were contrasted: bkero requested live algae samples for methane digestion, whereas fenn argued for thermal depolymerization to recover 100 % of embodied energy as long-chain hydrocarbons.

• A toolchain for global open-manufacturing logistics was prototyped: MapGuide Open Source (demo at 66.75.6.181) was loaded with NOAA/USGS geodata and AutoCAD Map 3D layers, with plans to cross-link mindat.org mineral data and Google Maps to create a worldwide supplier directory.

• Hod Lipson’s 2006 “robotic ecologies” concept—co-evolving simulators that evolve designs in the field—was revisited alongside SMIRF, a real-time FEA/physics MMO where players collaboratively refine CAD models instead of using static drawings.

• Miscellaneous but influential links collected: Ronja IR-filter hack using pitch-black 35 mm film, Albert Swantner’s open-source gear-design code for 3-D-printed timing mechanisms, Ubuntu on ARM Cortex-A8/9 for BeagleBoard-class devices, and Craig Venter’s Oxford talk on synthetic genomics for drop-in fossil-fuel replacements.