- A DARPA grant for an unspecified project was confirmed, prompting a brief celebration in the channel.  
- Discussion of the U.S. Geological Survey’s MRDS database (http://tin.er.usgs.gov/mrds/) and the federal “Site Mapper” portal (http://www.geocommunicator.gov) as sources for ~500 000 abandoned-mine locations, with calls for autonomous robotic exploration.  
- Carnegie Mellon’s “Groundhog” robot and open-source CARMEN navigation stack (http://carmen.sf.net/) were highlighted as precedents for mapping mines autonomously; links to 3-D mine maps and videos were shared.  
- A large collection of 3-D meshes from INRIA’s GAMMA repository (http://www-c.inria.fr/gamma/download/) was located; participants began bulk-downloading ~94 MB archives of Star Wars and other models, debating how to convert decorative meshes into functional CAD with kinematics and material data.  
- EtherPad (http://etherpad.com/) was introduced as a real-time collaborative text editor using AJAX “Comet” techniques; a Google TechTalk on the same technologies was also linked.  
- PipeBytes (http://host01.pipebytes.com/) was mentioned as a simple browser-to-browser file-transfer tool.  
- A BBC article on a 1.4-inch single-celled organism (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/…) and Richard Dawkins’ commentary were circulated, upending assumptions about early evolution.  
- Gene asked about sourcing 3.2 kg of americium for a nuclear battery, linking to a BBC science story; no supplier was identified.  
- A YouTube clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH0pJgEy6DU) showed an automated inventory-sorting system for pre-packaging, framed as an advertisement.