• University of Washington researchers open-sourced a ceramic-powder recipe that drops 3-D printing media costs from $30–50/lb to under $1/lb, already circulated on the openmanufacturing list.  
• A new BCI resource bundle at http://heybryan.org/~bbishop/docs/neuro/ includes a $20 patch-clamp electrode build guide, rat-culture “Captain Cyborg” robot-control references, and other DIY hardware notes.  
• A Berkeley project demonstrated implanting electronics into beetle chrysalises so the insect’s nervous system grows around the hardware, pointing toward fully integrated animal-machine interfaces.  
• Channel members argued that serious BCI work can start with low-cost multi-channel ADCs, basic electronics benches, and even insect-nerve interfaces instead of waiting for fMRI or million-dollar labs.  
• A step-by-step synthesis protocol for photolabile phosphoramidites—key reagents for light-directed DNA microarray fabrication—was shared, covering nitration, reduction, chloroformate formation, and phosphitylation.  
• Discussion of open hardware included a sun-tracking solar furnace design that keeps the target stationary via a secondary mirror or light-pipe, and the need for an electric-arc furnace to make elemental phosphorus safely.  
• Participants debated whether a non-invasive, fully mind-controlled virtual body (motor-cortex-only control without muscle movement) is feasible, with skepticism about the sufficiency of motor-cortex signals alone.  
• SQUID magnetometers were proposed as a higher-resolution, potentially DIY-friendly alternative to MRI for brain imaging in BCI research.