- A blog post describing a wireless-modded Das Keyboard was shared (http://www.ivanyu.ca/blog/2014/2/2/wireless-das-keyboard-modification); participants criticized the build for removing the diode PCB, which cripples gaming performance, and noted that the stock controller is already on a separate IDC-header PCB, making the mod unnecessarily invasive.

- Discussion of a new SETI paper: “The G infrared search for extraterrestrial civilizations with large energy supplies. III. The reddest extended sources in WISE” (arXiv:1504.03418) that mines WISE data for abnormally red, extended infrared sources as potential signatures of Kardashev-II civilizations.

- Eudoxia compared current certainty about subsurface oceans on Europa and Enceladus to the 19th-century belief in an “Open Polar Sea,” warning that widely accepted astrobiological assumptions may later prove illusory.

- A link to a polymath blog post on “The Inappropriately Excluded” was circulated, arguing that modern institutions systematically filter out very-high-IQ individuals and discussing social consequences for innovation and governance (http://polymatharchives.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-inappropriately-excluded.html).

- News was shared that researchers have engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewer’s yeast) to synthesize opioids (codeine, morphine) from simple sugars; the process is currently inefficient but represents a step toward decentralized, fermentation-based production of controlled pharmaceuticals.

- A brief security note highlighted that common document formats such as Microsoft Word and PDF can issue outbound network requests upon opening, with implications for metadata leakage and targeted exploits.