- A Nature paper (doi:10.1038/nature11868) showed that even modest increases in extracellular NaCl—equivalent to a high-salt diet—strongly promote pathogenic TH17 cell differentiation and accelerate autoimmune disease in mice, positioning dietary salt as a modifiable environmental trigger for autoimmunity.

- Participants discussed repurposing a 1981 Bio-Tek EL 307 96-well ELISA plate photometer ($50 from a reuse center) for DIY lab work, debating its vintage analog electronics, foot-switch operation, and teardown potential.

- The nootropics DM-232 (unifiram) and DM-235 (sunifiram) were noted for their AMPA-receptor-mediated anti-amnesic effects, though two Springer papers on them could not be retrieved due to a server error.

- Humanity+ (H+) was reported close to collapse; board members allegedly view the organization as ineffective, internally conflicted, and financially unsustainable after spending ~$10–15 k per month on its print magazine.

- A Haskell-to-VHDL compiler named Clash (available on Arch AUR) was shared as an open-source route for generating FPGA designs from functional specifications.

- The channel explored NodeCopter/AR.Drone hacking, covering JavaScript flight control, OpenCV-based face tracking, Kinect body control, and the previously overlooked 34-city “Summer of Drones” tour and SXSW DroneGames.

- Flight limitations of the AR.Drone 2.0 (12 min flight, 8 km range) sparked discussion of hydrocarbon motors and the energy-density advantages of fixed-wing versus rotary aircraft.

- Commercial liquid-handling robots were surveyed: used Tecan Freedom EVO units sell for $30–50 k on eBay, new ones approach $100 k, and the open-source Robotics::Tecan Perl library was highlighted as an escape from vendor lock-in.

- Wet-lab economics were critiqued: Illumina and Ion Torrent refuse outright sales, instead leasing sequencers (e.g., Ion Torrent Proton 1 for ~$1 M lease) to lock labs into consumable revenue streams.

- Additional resources surfaced: DIYBio-PDX meetup in Portland, the diyhpl.us “Huge Giganto Wiki for Open Hardware, DIYBio, etc.,” and a curated list of human-useful proteins linked to DIY genetic-modification notes.