• A hybrid micro-to-nanofluidic fabrication workflow is being prototyped: use a focused-ion-beam (FIB) to mill a 50–200 nm gold-on-quartz contact mask in minutes, then replicate that pattern into SU-8 and cast PDMS or silicone layers; only the sub-micron “nano” section is written slowly by direct FIB, while macro-to-micro adapters are produced by off-the-shelf capillary tubing and PDMS flanges.

• Copper-direct laser ablation with a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG (250–500 nm) is being evaluated as a chemical-free PCB process, but reflectivity, heat dissipation, and raster-scan strategies remain open engineering challenges; alternative maskless routes include UV-excimer ablation of 50 µm Kapton films to yield 500 nm ± 100 nm through-holes.

• Motion-control trade-offs for small CNC/laser systems were debated: grbl on 8-bit microcontrollers is cheap and simple but lacks arc-subdivision precision and height-probe commands, whereas LinuxCNC on a real-time kernel supports non-Cartesian robots and mixed servo/stepper/galvo configurations.

• A Science paper (Langecker et al., 2012) was highlighted for demonstrating DNA-origami nanostructures that spontaneously insert into lipid bilayers to form synthetic ion channels; insertion occurs without cytotoxic voltage/current levels, offering a programmable route to synthetic biology interfaces.

• A living longevity strategy document (http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/longevity/) summarizes community consensus: maintain health via lifestyle and supplements while awaiting stronger interventions, supported by human data (PMID 22237065) showing longer leukocyte telomeres with lower caloric intake.