• Chinese labs have already used CRISPR/Cas9 to create “double-muscle” beagles, goats, rabbits, rats, monkeys and miniature pigs, with one institute breeding >2,000 beagles a year for research, while BGI is now selling gene-edited mini-pigs as novelty pets for ~US$1,600 each, illustrating a clear path toward consumer-level genetic engineering.

• Neuroscientist Philip Kennedy implanted micro-electrodes in his own speech-motor cortex for 3–4 months to record neural activity during attempted phoneme production, aiming to build a real-time speech-synthesis BMI for locked-in patients; his poster and company Neural Signals were circulated.

• 23andMe regained FDA clearance to report on 36 health conditions while still providing full raw SNP downloads, surpassing one million users despite a two-year regulatory hiatus.

• Open-source CAD for NURBS is currently limited to SolveSpace and Verbnurbs; BRL-CAD’s new NURBS support was dismissed as “spaghetti” after 30+ years, and T-splines remain blocked by an active patent (US7274364).

• A grassroots paper-sharing protocol (#icanhazpdf) was highlighted: researchers tweet a paper DOI plus email address, receive the PDF privately, then delete the tweet—described as civil disobedience against paywalls.

• A curated list of open-source scientific hardware was shared, including the PLOS “Open Source Toolkit,” Open-Ephys neural recording platform, open-source syringe pumps, Picospritzer micro-injection, DIY Raman spectrometer, open stent repository, and fingertip laser sensors.

• Cryo-EM tomography and scanning probe techniques (AFM, STM, tip-enhanced Raman) were discussed for high-resolution DNA imaging; participants noted that AFM height maps may reflect chemical/dielectric differences rather than pure topology, and raised technical questions about optimal sampling density for detecting 23 Å DNA strands.

• A novel iterative mouse-selection experiment was proposed: breed mice for psychometric performance while simultaneously selecting for their ability to visually discriminate brain scans that predict even higher future performance, adding a neural-feedback loop to cognitive enhancement.