• Halcyon Molecular’s transmission-electron-microscope DNA threading method (patent WO2009046445) was dissected: it images ~2 kb per micrometer in hours, but participants questioned its “third-generation” novelty versus PacBio’s real-time single-polymerase sequencing and microfluidic Sanger as cheaper long-read routes.

• A dopamine-sensitive, optogenetically-defined fMRI reporter created by directed evolution was presented as a path to non-invasive, real-time neurotransmitter imaging.

• DIYbio hardware hacking: a ShopBot CNC was liberated from proprietary Windows-registry spindle control by retrofitting open-source EMC2 with Mesa 5i20/7i37 cards, solving centronix cabling and 4 kW spindle integration issues.

• Cryonics ethics were debated: whether death-row inmates should be allowed to sign up contingent on future cognitive redesign, and whether life-insurance policies would pay out after state execution or suicide.

• Citizen genomics platforms and policy: DIYgenomics.org was promoted as an open-source alternative to 23andMe/Navigenics/deCODEme, while California’s 2008 physician-order requirement for DTC testing and looming FDA scrutiny were condemned as bureaucratic threats to data access.

• A 1994 “genetic insurance” paper (Springer link shared) proposing universal single-premium coverage to eliminate genotype discrimination was revisited, alongside fears that U.S. anti-discrimination laws (GINA) could be undermined by insurers’ use of family-history proxies.

• University indirect-cost rates of 50–71 % (MIT and UT-Austin policies linked) were highlighted as systemic drains that divert grant money from actual research.

• Global fablab growth was documented with links to Tokyo Hackerspace talks, Kenyan 2-week digital-fabrication courses, ISTE 2010 teacher resources, and the “Robots and Dinosaurs” mini-doc.

• A newly discovered self-replicating pattern in Conway’s Game of Life (May 2010 video shared) was discussed for its potential engineering significance.

• Practical tools and culture: Google’s new command-line tool, Chemaxon’s mobile chemistry apps, Eugene Garfield’s peer-review archive, and tongue-in-cheek proposals to version the human genome in Git and crash high-priced genomics conferences.