- Open-source design automation: ybit emailed Hod Lipson requesting the source code for the “Towards a Universal Knowledge Database for Design Automation” paper, aiming to extend open-source practices into automated design tools.

- Open design in the physical world: Utopiah linked to a First Monday article titled “Open source enters the world of atoms: A statistical analysis of open design,” providing quantitative insight into open-source hardware trends.

- DIY microfluidics discussion: xp_prg, fresh from laser- and milling-machine training at TechShop, explored building microfluidic devices in acrylic; genehacker explained that at low Reynolds numbers planar valves with no moving parts can be actuated purely by pressure.

- Fluidic microprocessor concept: xp_prg proposed creating a fluidic microprocessor—logic circuits implemented with flowing fluids—and genehacker outlined how fluidic amplifiers and pressure-driven flow could be fabricated with laser-cut acrylic, avoiding photolithography.

- Shrinky-dink microfluidics breakthrough: genehacker highlighted a recent paper (RSC Lab on a Chip, 2009) demonstrating uniform shrinking of Shrinky-Dink substrates to form high-resolution microfluidic molds, offering an inexpensive route to small-scale devices.

- Valve technology tutorial: genehacker shared Stanford Quake-group documentation showing how thin elastomeric membranes can act as on-chip valves—pressure delivered via external syringe pumps or air lines deflects the membrane to close microchannels.

- Reynolds-number primer: genehacker introduced xp_prg to Reynolds number as the key parameter determining whether microscale flows are dominated by viscous forces (requiring specialized mixers) or inertial forces (allowing simple turbulent mixing).

- Wikipedia dataset access: kanzure sought a bulk list of all English Wikipedia articles without crawling; katsmeow suggested downloading dumps, while kanzure located the ready-made WikiStats resource at http://dammit.lt/wikistats/.

- HeeksCAD packaging: kanzure posted a link to ready-to-install .deb packages for HeeksCAD at http://yamato.hyte.de/packages/heeks/, easing CAD access for open-hardware developers.