- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has published the first 500 TB slice of a whole-brain mouse connectome at http://mouse.brainarchitecture.org/, offering gigapixel zoomable images down to individual neurites and using four independent tracers (classical dyes and attenuated neurotropic viruses) to provide “ground-truth” neuroanatomy without inference; the 2009 foundational paper is PLoS Comp Biol doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000334.

- Channel members debated optimal tissue-handling for connectomics: slicing before freezing preserves slice-to-slice connectivity, whereas freeze-then-slice reduces thaw damage, but no consensus exists on quantifying thaw-and-scan damage; plastination was proposed as a higher-fidelity alternative to cryonics at the cost of revival potential.

- A physician-in-training reported that ~75 % of current U.S. medical students come from the top two income quintiles, possess little programming or bioinformatics background, and that much clinical bioinformatics rests on unexamined “black-magic” assumptions; this sparked discussion of creating an alternative “-pathic” medical school and training prisoners in bench science to address labor-market distortions.

- Participants criticized SENS-style stem-cell replacement as scientifically premature, arguing that epigenetic drift, chromatin state, microRNA regulation, and mitochondrial interactions make simple rejuvenation schemes unlikely to yield major lifespan extension; longevity research was also challenged as a “rich-asshole” diversion from global-health priorities like malaria and polio.

- Labor-economics data showed bench scientists with molecular-biology degrees accepting $15–20/hr contracts while experienced software engineers earn $125+/hr, prompting debate about artificial labor gluts created by credentialing, patent barriers, and the mismatch between bench skills and market value.

- Open-source hardware and DIY biology were defended as equitable access strategies: examples included hand-cranked or wood-fired refrigerators, pot-in-pot evaporative coolers, and repurposing surplus lab automation (a 4-axis liquid-handling gantry) with inexpensive Chinese Mach-compatible motion-control boards or LinuxCNC.

- Governance proposals included a secular, transhumanist global government framed as an extension of Enlightenment “perfectibility,” countered by warnings about centralized-power risks; strong-AI skepticism was rebutted with the claim that recursive self-improvement, not network size, is the missing ingredient for an intelligence explosion.

- A whistle-blowing anecdote recounted reporting an industry lab for off-protocol animal handling and inadequate anesthesia; the federal investigation was deemed “warranted” but resulted in no disciplinary action, highlighting regulatory gaps in pre-clinical research oversight.