- A new ion-cannon manufacturing process for solar panels is claimed to cut costs to the point where solar can compete directly with fossil fuels, according to an ExtremeTech article discussed in the channel.  
- Swedish public-health authorities reported that ESBL-Carba–producing Klebsiella and E. coli have become resistant to last-line carbapenem antibiotics, with 37 asymptomatic cases already detected, mostly tied to foreign healthcare exposure.  
- A PhysOrg article on “microDNA” (small circular extra-chromosomal DNA fragments) triggered debate over whether routine blood-cell sequencing gives misleading genomic snapshots, since neurons and possibly blood cells delete DNA after differentiation.  
- Assay Depot and BioCurious launched a $10 000 open-science competition for Bay-Area students and scientists, offering lab memberships and research-service credits as prizes.  
- DIY ultrasound brain-stimulation resources were shared, including a curated collection of low-power transcranial ultrasound papers at diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/ultrasound/.  
- Berkeley’s Michel Maharbiz was highlighted for wireless “cyborg beetle” flight control, surface-tension-actuated microfluidics, and microfabricated gene-delivery interfaces in zebrafish embryos.  
- Trap-jaw ants can strike the ground with mandible forces 300× their body weight, enabling ballistic jumps of up to 10 cm, according to a 2006 PNAS paper.  
- Friends of the Earth and 100+ NGOs called for a global moratorium on commercial synthetic-biology organisms and human-genome editing until stricter international regulations are enacted, prompting discussion of the lack of strong pro-synbio nonprofits to counter activist campaigns.