- Columbia University’s “Time Encoding Machine” is dismissed as a rebranding of standard pulse-density modulation; the underlying code is available at http://www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu/code/intro/introduction.html.  
- Memory-enhancing peptide RGS-14 and its potential for perfect visual recall are discussed via an io9 article, while DIY synthesis papers on CLOCK-gene disruption and mania-like behavior are shared at http://adl.serveftp.org/papers/Mania-like%20behavior%20induced%20by%20disruption%20of%20CLOCK.pdf.  
- Participants explore ultra-low-cost PCR: a 2007 home-PCR paper (http://heybryan.org/books/papers/Low%20cost%20approach%20to%20PCR%20-%202007.pdf) is linked, and the group debates practical routes to purifying Taq polymerase at home, including tongue-in-cheek suggestions of mammary-gland bioreactors.  
- Ongoing brute-force search for self-replicating machines is anchored in the SKDB project (http://adl.serveftp.org/skdb/) and a digitized mechanical-engineering handbook (http://books.google.com/books?id=6x1smAf_PAcC) used as a manufacturing-process database.  
- A hybrid DNA/inorganic computer is proposed to sidestep the massive infrastructure required for modern silicon IC fabrication, with discussion of whether older-generation, relaxed-spec chips could still serve useful roles.  
- Requirements are sketched for “autoscholar,” an automated paper-sharing system, and a “giant communication matrix” to tame research email overload; contributors commit to freeing time to build these and SKDB.  
- DIY chromatography ideas include tubular precipitation reactors, wax-bead columns, vacuum-distillation recovery of TLC samples, and a simple rotating “lazy susan” drip system; a free simulator is linked at http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~guting/CHROM/.  
- Troy Hurtubise’s “Trojan S” and “Ursus Mark-VII” armored suits—featuring IED resistance, titanium construction, integrated cooling, airbags, and a robotic third arm—are dissected, with skepticism over his more exotic claims such as fire-resistant Diet-Coke compounds and the “Angel Light” device.