• Backyard Brains is hiring and the open-source “LH001” liquid-handling robot project (GitHub: delinquentme/LH001) was highlighted on Hacker News; a demo video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY5IY5CZ1es.  
• Discussion of open-manufacturing and CAD standards for the Open Source Ecology project, including evaluation of FreeCAD, Salome (Open-CASCADE-based), and the need for better geometry-to-SVG workflows.  
• A DARPA “Adaptive Vehicle Make” BAA on open-manufacturing was noted; participants expressed frustration that award winners and program details are not publicly disclosed.  
• DIY aeroponics and hydroponics guidance was provided: use aquarium pumps + aeroblocks, LED grow lights, and search terms “bio-bucket” and “aerocloner”; photobioreactors for algae-as-food were suggested as a scalable route.  
• Critique of current brain-visualization tools: existing color-coded scans and voxel renderings were judged inadequate for detailed neuroinformatics work.  
• A PayPal authentication-bypass vulnerability that allows account takeover in ~30 seconds was circulated (TheNextWeb article + HN thread).  
• Links shared: “An Optimist’s Tour of the Future” book site, SB5 BioBricks live-stream, George Church’s “conflict-of-interest” slide, and a JavaScript PDF reader (pdf.js).