- The “inventor’s paradox” was discussed: solving a more general problem is often easier than the specific one, because generalization forces new abstractions that reveal hidden structure; examples from lattice-based polynomial factorization and cross-domain translations were cited.  
- Thomson Reuters announced it is exploring the sale of Web of Science and its other academic-information assets, potentially opening a path for open-access or community-run alternatives.  
- A teardown of the SCiO handheld spectrometer patent (US20140320858) concluded that its only arguably novel element is cloud-based spectral matching; integrated micro-optics and “spectrometer-in-a-fridge” claims were judged obvious or already common.  
- Practical advice for low-UV CCD work: replace the protective glass window with quartz or coat it with a fluorophore; running bare-window risks contamination from dust and moisture.  
- Anders Sandberg’s argument that certain persuasive technologies (e.g., subliminal signals, pheromones) should be rejected because they bypass “mental firewalls” was criticized as naïve; the counter-position is that if such technologies exist, the priority is mitigation rather than ethical hand-wringing.  
- Nick Bostrom was characterized as overly deferential to bioethics panels and insufficiently engaged with concrete biological research, whereas George Church was held up as a more pragmatic academic transhumanist.  
- A Nautilus article proposing deliberate human size-reduction to lower resource footprints was shared, sparking implicit discussion of body-modification and ecological engineering trade-offs.