- A Drosophila study demonstrated that virulent intestinal bacterial infection (Pseudomonas entomophila or Erwinia c. carotovora) enhances aversive learning performance after a 1-hour retention interval, while avirulent mutants or systemic infection do not, suggesting immune stress can sometimes boost cognition.  
- Another Drosophila experiment showed that 100 generations of enforced monogamy (removing sexual selection) leads to measurable decline in male cognitive performance, underscoring sexual selection’s role in maintaining brain function.  
- A Medium post proposed using straightened DNA grids or DNA-origami scaffolds as a coordinate system for dark-matter detection by tracking particle-induced mutations, potentially turning biological tissue into a physics instrument.  
- SENSORICA’s open-hardware project released design files and process logs for a low-cost piezo-buzzer micropump and a piezo-actuated XYZ micromanipulator, all shared under their value-accounting system.  
- dlib 18.13 was highlighted for new Python bindings and real-time video object-tracking capabilities, with tutorials available for training custom object detectors.  
- A Nethack bot achieved full ascension (game completion) and was showcased on YouTube as an example of automated gameplay mastery.