- MIT’s Daniel Nocera group is developing a cobalt-phosphate “self-healing” oxygen-evolving catalyst for low-voltage water splitting; two key papers (“In Situ Formation of an Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst…” and “A Self-Healing Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst”) were circulated, but the related Sun Catalytix patent is still pending and not yet visible in public databases.  
- Participants debated whether a micro-fluidic “hole” (fluidic connector) should be modeled as a Part, an Interface, or both within SKDB-like hardware-description systems.  
- The CubeSpawn modular, cube-form-factor CNC/assembly-line concept was discussed; while the standard frame is a cube, current designs lack full enclosures, prompting side discussion about adding sealed housings for safety and debris control.  
- Willow Garage announced it will give away ten free, world-class PR2 robots to accelerate open-source robotics development, a move highlighted as a major boost to the open-manufacturing “ecology” (a term several members criticized as buzzword-speak for “toolchain” or “community”).  
- Links to curated paper collections were shared: designfiles.org/papers/stem-cells/, gene-therapy/, and longevity/—with the caveat that early human gene-therapy trials had some fatalities from adenoviral immune reactions but many non-lethal successes.  
- A 1947 Dremel Moto-Tool ad (“pocket-size machine shop,” 27 k RPM, $16.50) sparked nostalgia and practical talk about modern micromachining; genehacker expressed desire for a true pocket CNC micromill.  
- Channel members traded notes on backup strategies: Maxtor one-touch drives were praised for quick Windows backups, but Linux compatibility and reliability questions were raised; RAID and cron-based rsync were suggested as alternatives.  
- The Google-China Aurora exploit (IE zero-day) was dissected via the Wepawet analysis link, reinforcing earlier discussion of browser security and the German government’s public advisory against Internet Explorer.  
- A hackerspace-oriented VPN project, ChaosVPN (wiki.hamburg.ccc.de/ChaosVPN), and AgoraLink were floated as infrastructure for secure inter-hackerspace data sharing.  
- MakerBot economics were probed in a linked blog post (replicatorinc.com), continuing the channel’s long-running interest in low-cost, open-source 3-D printing and its role in distributed manufacturing.