• The Human Brain Project released its first-year deliverables: a 3-D “BigBrain” human atlas, a 207-cell-type / 40-million-synapse rodent somatosensory microcircuit, and a 3-million-neuron / 400-million-synapse neocortex model now running routinely on CSCS and JÜLICH supercomputers, plus portable USB neuromorphic co-processors and exascale streaming libraries for tiled display walls.

• Channel members explored open-source microfluidics: no open CAD exists for 96/384/1536-well Fluidigm-style single-cell chips, so a collaboration was proposed combining FreeCAD-to-FIB workflows and an Arduino-based RS-232 stitching board; modern FIB systems provide 5-axis CNC motion, 10 µm precision, and ~$375/hour access for one-off masters.

• A debate on AGI vs. whole-brain emulation framed AGI as transformative because it can recursively improve its own substrate, whereas WBE is “brute-force AGI” constrained by biological limits; participants also agreed to replace the overloaded term “singularity” with “recursive self-improvement” or “intelligence explosion.”

• Paperbot, the channel’s paywall-circumventing bot, was restored after ez-proxy changes broke Sci-Hub lookup; a v2 rewrite removes hard-coded paths, and new commits make its Python modules importable for interactive exploration.

• Technical resources shared include: the 2013 paper “SNARKs for C: Verifying Program Executions Succinctly and in Zero Knowledge” (mirrored at diyhpl.us), Project Rho’s “Real Designs” page for realistic spacecraft engineering, SSLMate CLI for $15.95/year chained SSL certificates, and a 30 MHz open-source “PortableSDR” survey.

• Licensing and legal concerns arose around releasing NSF-funded microfluidic designs as open hardware; MIT license was recommended for schematics and software, but participants noted it cannot override patent law and may still invite litigation.

• Miscellaneous highlights: TransVision 2014 announced with free registration and speakers Aubrey de Grey, Anders Sandberg, and Natasha Vita-More; a dancing-magnetotactic-bacteria video demonstrated magnetic steering of microbes; and the first KiCad gerbers for a new PCB were posted on OSH Park for public release.