- A KurzweilAI article claiming “first direct biological evidence for a genetic contribution to intelligence” was derided as sensationalist; participants noted that many prior studies have already linked genetics to intelligence.  
- Discussion of FPGA vs GPU acceleration for bioinformatics workloads concluded that the choice depends on the specific algorithm, with alignment still expected to be necessary for at least the next three years despite longer-read sequencing technologies.  
- kanzure shared a personal collection of tutorials and videos covering life-extension research, DIY bio, microfluidics, synthetic biology, and open-hardware projects at http://diyhpl.us:9000/random.  
- MIT’s “DRACO” broad-spectrum antiviral approach—fusing a dsRNA-binding protein to an apoptosis-inducing domain—was highlighted as a novel method to trigger cell suicide in virally infected cells.  
- A 3-D-printed aircraft’s maiden flight was circulated via YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRDg4UB9Ajg), illustrating rapid progress in distributed manufacturing.  
- A bombing targeting Mexican nanotechnology researchers was reported; participants debated whether it was genuine eco-terrorism, a false-flag operation, or viral marketing for the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  
- DIYbio culture was reinforced by a brain pathologist’s post describing his home lab setup (Google Groups thread “My DIYbio lab – a pathologist’s perspective”).  
- An Australian National Radio segment on biohackers was linked (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/futuretense/stories/2011/3285426.htm), showing mainstream media attention to citizen science.  
- Zeaxanthin was introduced as the “chemical of the day,” with a pointer to commercial research on its role in eye health (http://www.zeavision.com/research.html).