- A new open-source neural-network simulation platform called “Emergent Neural Network Simulation System” was shared (http://smw.referata.com/wiki/Emergent_Neural_Network_Simulation_System).  
- An Antarctic bacterial protein (Cpn60) was highlighted that lets E. coli grow at temperatures as low as 10 °C, suggesting a simple route to cold-tolerant chassis organisms.  
- The predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio was proposed as a living “gene gun”: attaching DNA (via streptavidin/biotin) to its outer-membrane proteins could let it drill into target cells and deliver genetic cargo.  
- DIY “cheeseburger transfection” was floated—extracting lipids from fast food to make liposomes for cheap, kitchen-sink cell transfection.  
- A light-addressable “DNA-box lab-on-a-chip” concept was debated: arrays of DNA origami capsules, each loaded with a different reagent, opened by wavelength-specific azobenzene keys for multiplexed field diagnostics.  
- NVIDIA’s Tesla C870 GPU was noted as already being used by Evolved Machines for 3-D neural-circuit-growth simulations, illustrating early adoption of GPUs for computational neuroscience.  
- A quick thumbnail-lens microscopy experiment was described—using a water droplet on a fingernail to view corneal detail—and the group was asked to replicate or falsify it.  
- AcademicEarth.org was circulated as a new repository of free university lecture videos, expanding open educational resources for self-learners.  
- Practical tool discussion: Zotero recommended for PDF management on Linux, with warnings that Mendeley degrades beyond ~1 000 papers; xpdf, kpdf and djvu viewers should be packed for field use.