- Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN field was reduced from 80 bytes to 40 bytes, igniting a debate over on-chain data storage versus off-chain solutions like Counterparty and Mastercoin; Mike Hearn proposed using a Distributed Hash Table (DHT) plus OP_RETURN hashes to keep the blockchain lightweight while still anchoring external data.  
- A Stanford Liberation Tech post and related Hacker News thread outlined an early design for a decentralized anonymous marketplace, focusing on reputation, escrow, and censorship resistance without centralized servers.  
- nmz787_i launched takeitapart.com, a site for crowdsourced hardware teardowns, and offered an invite code for the #hplusroadmap community to test image/video upload and cropping features.  
- Discussion of Ansible, Serf (serfdom.io), and EC2 automation highlighted ongoing efforts to streamline cloud infrastructure for biohacking and research workflows.  
- A PNAS paper on whole-brain calcium imaging in C. elegans was shared as a landmark step toward complete neural-behavior mapping in a simple organism.  
- DIY light-field photography links (Lytro teardowns and microlens-array fabrication guides) were circulated, spurring interest in open-source 3-D capture hardware.  
- The channel noted Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR as a setback for open VR ecosystems, alongside lamentations about corporate consolidation in emerging tech.