- NEURON 7.3 introduces native Python APIs for 1-D reaction-diffusion modeling and lays groundwork for full 3-D mesh-based biochemical reaction-diffusion with facilitated cytoplasmic transport, aiming to replace NMODL with pure Python classes for RD specification while exposing the entire C-level API via neuron.nrn_dll() and adding MPI-level exchange of arbitrary Python objects through ParallelContext.py_alltoall().

- Community discussion highlights the absence of active SBML-spatial support and the lack of 3-D reaction-diffusion coverage in NeuroML v2.0, prompting interest in SBML-to-NEURON conversion utilities.

- DIYbio London “salon” revealed that Cathal Garvey’s home lab—featuring a DremelFuge power-drill centrifuge and coffee-can PCR—is the only citizen laboratory in Europe currently licensed for GMO work.

- Participants warned that the Obama administration’s $100 M BRAIN initiative could replicate Celera-style paywalls rather than the open-access model of the Human Genome Project, while ongoing paperbot and diyhpl.us mirrors continue to provide on-demand access to paywalled journals such as ACS, RSC, and Science Translational Medicine.

- Practical energy-frugality experiments include replacing a 50 W living-room server with a 2 W Raspberry Pi for always-on tasks and encouraging 32 GB RAM machines to keep multiple VMs resident for rapid context switching.

- Open datasets shared include an anonymous FTP server at ftp://anonymous@ftp.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/pub/tjucikas/wormdatabase/results-12-06-08/Laura%20Grundy containing raw worm-imaging data for biological or computational research.

- Mozilla’s Servo browser engine was noted for unusually low recent commit activity, raising questions about its long-term viability, while Apple’s tightening control over WebKit development—requiring non-Apple ports to fix their own breakages from WebKit2 changes—was criticized as a threat to cross-platform openness.