- The group discussed the manga “BLAME!” as a conceptual model for self-organizing, infinitely expandable megastructures, noting that at extreme scales communication latency would naturally partition the structure into isolated “tribes.”  
- Gene proposed building a laboratory-scale plasmoid accelerator based on the “plasmak fusion” concept, which uses a 100 kJ capacitor bank and an ignitron switch to create a helical plasma discharge; he asked for sources of 20 kV, 500 µF capacitor banks.  
- Kanzure shared a collection of Python scripts for OpenCASCADE (pythonocc) at http://heybryan.org/books/Manufacturing/pythonocc/scripts/ to support open-source CAD work.  
- Springer’s impending sale prompted the suggestion to “rip the database” before ownership changes, highlighting ongoing concerns about open access to scientific literature.  
- David Treadwell was noted to be starting a RepRap build, reinforcing the channel’s focus on open-source manufacturing hardware.  
- Kanzure documented his workflow for finite-element analysis using Elmer FEM: compiling legacy Fortran 90 code, resolving library conflicts with symlinks, and visualizing results in ElmerGUI; example output of cavity fluid flow was posted.  
- A 75-monitor TACC visualization wall (Stallion) was mentioned as a potential remote resource for high-resolution simulation post-processing.