- ParahSailin questioned why cell-free fetal DNA tests still cost ~$3 k, speculating that the fragmented nature of circulating fetal DNA may force expensive shotgun-sequencing approaches rather than simpler probe-based hybridization assays.  
- The channel debated whether low-cost Down-syndrome screening is being held back by technical constraints or by religious (Christian) reluctance to terminate affected pregnancies.  
- kanzure floated the idea of using sensory-deprivation (isolation) tanks as an Ebola-care hack: patients could be submerged in continuously flushed water, reducing the need for repeated surface decontamination and full haz-mat suits.  
- streety countered that for the West African epidemic, basic hygiene supplies (e.g., bin liners suggested by an African nurse) are far more useful than exotic DIYbio proposals.  
- A link to the Zen Float Tent Kickstarter (an “affordable” home isolation tank) was shared as a possible off-the-shelf component for the Ebola-tank concept.  
- dingo reported that a new manager at his former workplace believes in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), prompting jokes about applying NLP to source code.  
- kanzure circulated a Bitcoin-financial-regulation paper (Brito et al., SSRN #2423461) covering securities, derivatives, prediction markets, and gambling.  
- Franklin Veaux’s blog post on “Sex Tech” was highlighted: he is prototyping a strap-on dildo whose tactile sensors feed an electrode array worn vaginally, leveraging neural plasticity to let wearers “feel” through the device; two funders have already stepped forward.  
- Discussion of helicopter scaling laws explained why electric powertrains work for small drones but not full-size rotorcraft (lift ∝ area, weight ∝ volume).  
- A Twitter-sourced joke equated PCR protocols with insanity (“doing the same thing over and over”), prompting retorts that PCR is merely methodical data collection, not expectation of change.