- Open-source hardware ecosystem: kanzure shared links to MakerBlock’s post on “open-source monopolies,” Adafruit’s slides on open-source hardware and the web, the Flickr OSHW tag stream, and the FreedomDefined OSHW definition, framing the day’s discussion around licensing and community sustainability.  
- Energy economics of advanced manufacturing: genehacker highlighted that mechanosynthetic molecular assemblers are projected to consume ~20,000 kWh per kg of product—orders of magnitude above injection molding (≈3 kWh/kg) or RepRap (6–20 kWh/kg)—and argued that heat-reuse strategies from biology should be incorporated into future designs.  
- Nuclear power financing critique: kanzure relayed a note that the newly approved $8 billion federal loan guarantee for a Georgia nuclear plant implies the technology is not economically viable without subsidies, prompting JayDugger to counter that NRC licensing fees ($4.5 M per reactor per year) and regulatory barriers artificially inflate costs.  
- Citizen-science chemistry & video journals: kanzure pointed to SciVee.tv as a JoVE-like platform and specifically linked a talk on “citizen scientists and their contributions to internet-based chemistry,” underscoring interest in low-cost, distributed research dissemination.  
- DNA-stain safety discussion: hundred-ideas asked for electrophoresis stain recommendations; kanzure advised avoiding ethidium bromide and confirmed SYBR Safe as the current community standard.  
- Harvard synthetic-biology event: kanzure posted the URL for “New Directions in Synthetic Biology” at the Wyss Institute, signaling ongoing academic–community crossover.  
- DIY instrumentation wish-list: ybit3 outlined a ~$10–12 k gradient magnetometer setup (50 A water-cooled electromagnet, lock-in amplifier, Hall probe) for nanomaterial magnetism studies and briefly considered an X-ray diffractometer before shelving the idea.  
- Implantable Bluetooth tooth concept: fenn floated the idea of a tooth-embedded Bluetooth transceiver for audio input and biomonitoring (pH, microflora); jrayhawk suggested tapping the body-modification (BMEzine) community for guinea-pig experience, while JayDugger noted potential in-mouth chemical sensing applications.