- A used ABI 391 DNA synthesizer has arrived; the group is sourcing reagents from Azco Biotech (100-pack 1000-Å CPG columns at $350) and budgeting ~$1,200 for an initial chemical kit plus ~$300/month recurring, while planning a full teardown to dump firmware and document fluidics before the reagents expire.  
- Reagent handling and waste-disposal logistics dominated discussion: ammonium hydroxide’s two-week shelf life, phosphoramidite sensitivity to acid/oxygen/water, and the absence of an open database for on-site neutralization or incineration of lab organics; NIH/EPA multihazardous-waste docs were cited as legal starting points.  
- Open-access literature tools were showcased: pdfparanoia strips publisher ads from PDFs, PDFy auto-mirrors uploads to the Internet Archive, and paperbot (a paywall-bypassing fetcher) is being scaled via anonymous university VMs and Tor-based Android proxies while avoiding Kickstarter-level visibility that invites publisher blocks.  
- The LibGen scientific corpus (~12 TB, ~1 000 torrents) is chronically under-seeded; participants proposed hard-link helpers, automatic seeding clients, and better BitTorrent tooling to keep the collection alive.  
- A 37 µm-layer open-source DLP 3-D printer (“lildlper”) built around an Acer H6510BD 1080 p projector was demonstrated with sample prints, while debate over bacterial plastic production concluded that conventional filament extrusion remains cheaper.  
- Lab-selection markers were clarified: penicillin is rarely used; ampicillin, kanamycin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol dominate because well-characterized resistance genes and regulatory simplicity outweigh arbitrary toxins.  
- CNC machining discussion found that low-cost Kickstarter mills cannot reliably cut aluminum; a CNC-converted Bridgeport (~$1 k manual + ~$10 k conversion) is the cheapest metal-capable option, with laser and water-jet CNC still limited by efficiency and consumable costs.