- IEEE Spectrum podcast on the patent-arms-race dynamics created by Intellectual Ventures was shared as background on how IP strategy shapes emerging-tech R&D.  
- Looxcie wearable always-on video camera (looxcie.com) was introduced as an early example of continuous personal recording hardware.  
- Discussion of experimental night-vision eye surgery referenced a 2009 Times article describing retinal modifications to extend human scotopic vision, with speculation that special-forces units may already pursue such enhancements.  
- NSF announced a new Engineering Research Center dedicated to “ideal mind–machine interface” research, framed as a major upcoming BCI funding initiative.  
- MIT project on “going beyond the screen” (inavateonthenet.net article) was circulated, covering spatial/tangible display research relevant to post-monitor human-computer interaction.  
- Io9 list of “21 scientific research projects starting this fall that could change the world” was posted as a quick survey of high-impact open science efforts.  
- Bitcoin stability was debated in light of the MyBitcoin and MtGox incidents; participants judged the currency “stable enough” for small-scale transhumanist commerce.  
- MIT TechTV video of the 1976 Cambridge city-council hearings on recombinant-DNA risk was linked, offered as historical context for current bio-safety and biohacker policy debates.  
- USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (uscrpl.com) was highlighted as a promising student group pushing low-cost access-to-space technology.