• A “biochemical Pokémon” game concept was proposed in which players battle with molecular structures rendered in PyMOL style, intended as a stealth-education tool for organic chemistry.  
• Atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and sequence-controlled polymer synthesis were highlighted as key techniques for advanced materials, with a JACS paper on a chemically gated nanofactory for protein synthesis and a four-color light-controlled DNA synthesizer also discussed.  
• Open-source hardware efforts included digshadow’s plan to CNC-image Soviet KM1801VM2 NMOS chips, a trash-sourced belt-driven XY microscope stage, and JohnDMcMaster’s pr0ndexer indexer replacing earlier g-code post-processors.  
• Commercial PCR hardware was critiqued: OpenPCR now employs four staff and ships five $600 thermocyclers weekly, yet a planned $1,500 real-time PCR unit was still viewed as overpriced.  
• Optical innovations covered a SPIE paper advocating digital micromirror devices (DMDs) for ~1000× faster wavefront shaping through scattering tissue, open lens-design resources (BRL-CAD, POV-Ray), and skepticism toward Grayfield Optical’s oil-free high-NA objectives.  
• Forensic imaging was explored via a PLOS ONE paper demonstrating that bystanders can be identified from corneal reflections in ultra-high-resolution photographs.  
• Historical and regional tech notes included 19th-century Oregon City sawmill evolution, Leeuwenhoek’s secret rapid lens-making process, and upcoming maker events in San Mateo and Eugene.