• paperbot, an IRC-driven open-source tool that scrapes paywalled PDFs via Zotero translators and a fallback scraper, was actively debugged; recent commits fixed ACS, Springer, and Oxford journal parsers and addressed encoding and XPath issues, while participants debated running future scrapers over Tor to avoid Aaron Swartz-style prosecution.

• A surplus BD FACSCalibur flow cytometer (lacking its interface card) was offered near JCVI for ~$1,100; discussion centered on hacking it into a cell sorter or using it for mesenchymal stem-cell isolation from fat, with the Baltimore DIYbio group BUGSS suggested as a potential recipient.

• nmz787 and chris_99 debated the optimal optical signature for ethanol detection—nmz787 cited Raman peaks from a Perkin-Elmer note, whereas chris_99 argued for a 2 µm absorbance trough—highlighting the practical difference between Raman scattering and absorbance spectroscopy in open-source sensor design.

• Participants shared and refined multiple automated paper-liberation tools: a ScienceMag.org scraper, SpringerLink and ScienceDirect ebook downloaders, a list of EZproxy URLs, and a Twitter bot concept to fulfill #icanhazpdf requests; kanzure proposed a coordinated “EZproxy off” day where universities could disable authentication with a single config-file change.

• Watermark detection and removal in paywalled PDFs was explored: ClamAV signatures were suggested to identify publisher tracking strings, and a future “pdflint” tool to strip them was outlined; initial findings were documented on diyhpl.us.

• A two-week JSTOR trial account (username: Zadartrial, password: trial13zadar) circulated via Reddit provided ad-hoc access to paywalled literature, though coverage in Science and Mathematics was noted as limited.

• nmz787 discovered a patent on “Nucleic acid sequencing by Raman monitoring of nucleotide uptake” and a project page describing remote magnetic actuation of untethered probes through fluid-filled tubes, illustrating emerging low-cost sequencing and microfluidic control concepts.

• The diyhpl.us wiki and public IRC logs (gnusha.org/logs) were highlighted as central repositories for DIYbio protocols, cryonics patient lists, and other transhumanist documentation, reinforcing the channel’s role as an open archive for open-source science.