• The Emotiv EPOC EEG headset is being reverse-engineered: its AES-encrypted data stream is being cracked by extracting keys from Windows binaries, while one participant is designing a 32-channel open-source EEG board to replace the headset’s proprietary chips.

• A live-streamed U.S. Presidential Commission hearing on synthetic biology (mms://wm.tvworldwide.com/100708_bioethics) was dissected; participants noted that the real-time transcript omitted sensitive proprietary details from Venter and Church, and they launched a coordinated effort to submit a public comment from the DIYbio community to bioethics.gov.

• A comprehensive resource dump from Singularity University’s 2010 Graduate Studies Program surfaced, covering next-gen sequencing platforms (Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, Helicos), DNA origami tutorials, cloud genomics tools (DNAnexus), and open bio-databases (PDB, 1000 Genomes).

• Neurotechnology discussion highlighted Omneuron’s real-time fMRI neurofeedback, NeuroSky’s low-cost EEG headsets, and the iRhythm Zio Patch—an iPhone-linked, mail-in cardiac monitor—underscoring the Quantified-Self push toward consumer-grade physiological telemetry.

• Economic viability of asteroid mining was analyzed via a Caltech NPV model (http://quantumg.net/asteroid-npv.jpg) showing that profitability depends on slashing launch costs and producing propellant in situ rather than on mineral value alone.

• The channel debated expertise acquisition, noting that a PhD consumes ~10,000 hours (the “10,000-hour rule”) but unused skills decay quickly, limiting how many domains one can truly master in a lifetime.

• Historical clarification: DIYBio’s domain was registered in 2008, yet some internal documents trace informal activity back to 2002, highlighting the need for better archival documentation of open-science movements.

• Open-source biology infrastructure was updated: Bryan Bishop’s early “biotech.git” repository has been superseded by OpenWetWare and the SKDB project (http://gnusha.org/), which applies Debian-style packaging to open hardware and biological protocols.

• Allen Buchanan, Duke philosopher and author of “Beyond Humanity: The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement,” was proposed as an ideal speaker for Humanity+, though his packed schedule was cited as a barrier.