• A Guardian exposé claiming WADA buried evidence of ~800 Olympic doping cases was circulated, fueling debate over whether anti-doping agencies are obstructing open, evidence-based human enhancement.

• Two ultrafast-electron-microscopy resources were shared: a Caltech CURJ paper detailing a 120 fs, 776 nm Ti:sapphire oscillator system and arXiv preprint 1310.7521 on UEM instrumentation, prompting discussion about the feasibility and desirability of owning femtosecond-class lasers.

• The Microscopy & Microanalysis 2015 program was highlighted for talks on low-voltage electron microscopy and “Microscopy of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing in Materials and Biology,” with attendees weighing which days to prioritize while balancing day-job obligations.

• An open-source magnetic-stripe reader (GitHub: anfractuosity/magstripe) was demonstrated, alongside questions about building DIY Kerr-effect (MOKE) microscopes for magnetic-domain imaging.

• Ultra-low-cost fabrication tools were spotlighted: the $115 Mini Fabrikator 3-D printer and a $400 A5 laser cutter (noted to lack safety interlocks) were proposed as entry-level lab equipment.

• A nested peristaltic-pump vacuum scheme was proposed—placing the roller-and-tube pump inside a second evacuated chamber to prevent tube collapse—and participants asked whether inexpensive MEMS vacuum gauges could measure the resulting ultimate pressure.