- Jonathan Rothberg’s 4Combinator incubator has raised $100 M for Butterfly Network, which is developing a $6 k chip-based ultrasound machine that integrates capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers (CMUTs) and deep-learning processors on a single semiconductor wafer.  
- OpenTrons, the first start-up to emerge from Genspace, launched a Kickstarter for an open-source, 3-D-printed liquid-handling robot; CAD files and assembly guides are publicly available on GitHub to accelerate biology prototyping.  
- Participants explored sleep-reduction biology by citing unihemispheric slow-wave sleep in dolphins and migratory birds, noting that even blind birds exhibit the behavior, implying non-visual triggers for hemispheric sleep control.  
- A Portland-area focused-ion-beam (FIB) system is being opened for community use at $375/hour; Python utilities already convert bitmap images into FIB pattern files, and the next step is slicing 3-D CAD models into sequential ablation layers for true 3-D micromachining.  
- The Rosetta/Norsam nickel micro-etched disc—used by ESA on the Rosetta comet lander—was analyzed as a 10,000-year archival medium: a 2.2-inch nickel wafer with ~1 µm features can store ~300 MB uncompressed, prompting debate over whether to archive sacred texts or practical survival knowledge.  
- CLOCKSS/LOCKSS was highlighted as a globally distributed “dark archive” that automatically releases orphaned scholarly papers under Creative Commons licenses, ensuring perpetual open access to scientific literature.  
- Historical surveillance of “crypto-anarchist” identities and ITAR enforcement was discussed, referencing a CIA FOIA document (DOC_0006231614) and 1990s EFF lists showing US monitoring of cryptography-export violations.