• Multiple natural and pharmaceutical routes to raise brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were compared: physical exercise, lion’s-mane mushroom, niacin (in deficiency), fluoxetine (Prozac), Bacopa monnieri, Polygala tenuifolia, and Rita Levi-Montalcini’s long-term NGF eyedrop regimen.

• 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) was identified as an orally active, small-molecule TrkB agonist that mimics BDNF; although it occurs naturally in plants such as Tridax procumbens and primula, concentrations are too low for therapeutic use.

• More potent synthetic analogues—e.g., 4′-dimethylamino-7,8-dihydroxyflavone (4′-DMA-7,8-DHF) patented by Emory’s Keqiang Ye lab—were discussed alongside sourcing challenges: TRC Canada lists 7,8-DHF at ~US$1,200 per 250 mg, whereas earlier grey-market suppliers offered grams for ~US$20–30.

• Experimental delivery strategies debated included transcranial ultrasound with BDNF-loaded microbubbles for localized brain release versus direct intracranial injection, and N-acetyl-serotonin was introduced as a short-acting TrkB agonist with a 30-minute half-life.

• Temple University chemist Christian Schafmeister’s “biologically-inspired nanochemistry” project—positioned between traditional molecular nanotechnology and synthetic biology—was highlighted as a promising open-source transhumanist research direction; an IRC log (http://log.irc.tymoon.eu/freenode/clasp?from=2015-06-17T13%3A00%3A52&to=2015-06-17T13%3A35%3A54) was provided for background.

• A proposal was floated to use directed evolution to reduce the amino-acid alphabet to a minimal set whose sequences fold into predictable 3-D structures, potentially simplifying protein design for bio-nano applications.

• SpaceX released the official rules and timeline for its open-entry Hyperloop Pod Competition (PDF: http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/spacex_hyperloop_pod_competition.pdf), with the Hacker News discussion (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9720033) shared for additional context.

• The Internet Archive community backup initiative “INTERNETARCHIVE.BAK” (http://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=INTERNETARCHIVE.BAK) was promoted as a distributed effort to mirror the entire archive and safeguard open knowledge.