- A Georgia Tech paper on “Subvocalization – Toward Hearing the Inner Thoughts of Developers” (http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~vector/papers/emg.pdf) was shared, describing the use of EMG signals to detect silent speech in programmers as a potential BCI input method.  
- The UK “100,000 Genomes Project” was discussed, with a Nature article (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v524/n7566/full/524503a.html) noting that WuXi NextCODE—formed from deCODE veterans after its acquisition by Amgen and later by WuXi PharmaTech—was the only finalist with proven population-scale genomics experience.  
- AI Impacts’ post “Brain Performance in TEPS” (http://aiimpacts.org/brain-performance-in-teps/) was linked, offering updated estimates of human cortical computation in Traversed Edges Per Second for AI-capability benchmarking.  
- A participant reported an impromptu, hours-long conversation with a chatbot that had passed an informal Turing test in a programming-help channel; logs (~100 min) were collected while the user attempted to steer the AI toward psychotherapy over unchecked automation.  
- Brief debates touched on the ethics of creating self-improving software, the risk of Roko’s basilisk-like scenarios, and the practical limits of IRC logging tools (weechat vs. erc) for capturing such interactions.