- Blue-light therapy for non-24-hour circadian disorders was discussed; blue light is twice as effective as white light for resetting circadian rhythms.  
- A rapid, one-day open-source clone of the Flash game “Fantastic Contraption” was built in C++/Box2D; the level data is stored in a simple XML schema that can be generated from GraphSynth’s GXML.  
- GraphSynth’s graph-grammar approach to automated design was debated: it substitutes subgraphs (e.g., four-bar linkages, gears) but still needs explicit rules and dimensional requirements; there is no magic way to synthesize a “turbine” from the word alone.  
- Gene proposed using GraphSynth to design micro-robots and asked how to specify requirements such as “generate thrust with minimal butane”; the group concluded that formal requirement specification and domain-specific rule bases are still open problems.  
- RigidChips, a free physics sandbox, was mentioned as already hosting genetic-algorithm–evolved vehicles; ADL researchers reportedly dislike GAs and prefer broader search methods.  
- Varkon, a parametric CAD system programmable in the MBS language, was highlighted for letting users define new part classes (e.g., “pipe”) and integrate them directly into the GUI, offering an open-source Linux CAD alternative.  
- New resources shared: the 12th SBML BioModels release (systems-biology models), an RFQ Board for manufacturing jobs, and SolidWorks/Pro-E API links for automated design scripting.  
- Extremophile research was linked: a 2.8 km-deep South-African mine bacterium lives on radiolysis (uranium splitting water into H₂), inspiring discussion of non-solar biospheres and speculative life in neutron-star crusts or red-giant atmospheres.  
- Memetics was dismissed as “bullshit” via a linked critical paper; the working definition “Design is the initiation of change to a man-made artifact” was quoted from a lab book.  
- xp_prg announced an imminent meeting with a biotech CEO and biostatistician to pitch DIY-bio ideas and the “biobench” concept; kanzure offered his contact info but criticized the technical feasibility of a Flash-based biology compiler.