- Alex Kiselev was pitching an “Open Industrial” platform—described as a hybrid of GitHub and Thingiverse—to Peter Thiel’s 20-Under-20 program, promising an open-source mass-spectrometer project that would attract thousands of contributors within ten months and evolve into a hardware incubator within two years.  
- Participants expressed skepticism about the pitch’s realism, noting that equity was being offered to Joseph (kanzure’s associate) and that the plan sounded “a little full of it,” though they conceded that securing Thiel’s funding would still be valuable.  
- Ed Boyden was announced as an upcoming TED speaker, highlighting continued mainstream visibility for advanced neurotechnology and BCI research.  
- Tom McCabe was elected Executive Director of Humanity+, prompting kanzure to resign from the organization, citing unpaid invoices and general dissatisfaction with its operations.  
- Allegations of embezzlement or fraud at the Singularity Institute (SingInst) were briefly raised, adding to ongoing concerns about governance and financial transparency in prominent transhumanist nonprofits.  
- Discussion at BIL conference planning touched on open-source hardware and manufacturing topics, with Tyrant considering selective patenting only when it could generate significant funding for open projects.