- Project Elysium, a VR initiative to “revive” deceased loved ones in virtual reality, was flagged as a new transhumanist-flavored application of immersive tech (Ars Technica article shared).  
- Discussion of China’s new 80,000-ton forging press—the largest in the world—highlighted its strategic importance for aerospace (A380/747-scale landing-gear forgings), marine turbines, power-plant components, and other high-performance alloys previously only producible by the US, Russia, and France.  
- Links to YouTube videos of 13,000-ton and smaller hydraulic forging presses were circulated to illustrate the scale and mechanics of such machines.  
- A brief note on the Russian Progress spacecraft telemetry failure served as a real-time example of the fragility of current space-logistics infrastructure.  
- Aside: participants experimented with trackball ergonomics and joked about Skynet’s hypothetical role in recent aviation incidents, but these were tangential to the core technical threads.