- The Foresight Institute’s January 2010 conference rebranded its subtitle to “Open source in manufacturing and AI,” prompting debate over whether nanotechnology had been sidelined.  
- SKDB—described as “apt-get for open-source hardware”—was presented as a funded (~$5 k) project that packages physical designs (e.g., `skdb-get build laser-cannon`) and already distributes pythonOCC as .deb files; a MakerBot module is in progress.  
- A concrete proposal for an open, version-controlled “human genome distribution” (e.g., “anti-cancer-2.34”) was outlined: it would aggregate literature-validated SNPs from SNPedia/dbSNP and provide a designer interface for embryo selection or drug tailoring, leveraging tools like MAQ/BWA, Promethease, and the $195 deCODEme cardio scan.  
- Mike Grube’s successful ModEEG build (OpenEEG project) and interest in a collaborative BCI effort were noted, with OpenViBE cited as relevant open-source software; meanwhile, drazak, a high-school student, detailed an open, non-radioactive EMSA protocol for DNA-protein binding assays and shared HL-1 cardiomyocyte culture tips from Claycomb’s PNAS paper.  
- Neil Gershenfeld’s new MIT “Mind Machine Project” (MMP) was highlighted: a five-year, $5 million initiative involving ~24 faculty and students to build “intelligent machines—whatever that means.”  
- Practical fab discussions included integrating Octopart’s parts-search API with SKDB for auto-quoting BOMs, ybit’s plan to fell trees and build a low-cost Multimachine, and confirmation that Cubespawn’s modular hardware standard is “not vaporware.”  
- Links circulated: 1996 Foresight.org snapshot, Tim Gracias’ self-folding micro-origami PNAS paper, DIY Lego fabrication on Thingiverse, Practical Arduino e-book, openEyes low-cost eye-tracking hardware, Zach Smith’s RepRap/NYLUG talk, and a New Scientist article on liquid metamaterials for invisibility cloaks.