• A newly reported catalytic process that captures CO₂ directly from air and converts it to methanol (http://phys.org/news/2016-01-carbon-dioxide-captured-air-methanol.html) was presented as a technically feasible route to reverse—not merely slow—global warming, provided atmospheric CO₂ is drawn well below the current 400 ppm level; the atmosphere currently holds ≈3 × 10¹⁵ kg of CO₂, roughly 25 % above pre-industrial levels.

• Participants debated whether contemporary AI systems already surpass bonobo cognition or still lack key cognitive primitives such as cooperative tool use observed in bonobo cooking videos, with the AlphaGo paper cited as evidence that recent breakthroughs hinge on massive GPU resources rather than conceptual novelty.

• A 500 GB “libgen-style” release of Springer academic books was discussed, with Tor, Freenet, and “encrypted noise” schemes proposed for safe distribution while acknowledging legal risks after Elsevier’s lawsuit against Sci-Hub.

• Health-insurance companies were proposed as natural investors in brain-uploading R&D bonds, since digital minds would drastically reduce long-term medical-maintenance costs compared with biological bodies.

• Evacuated-tube and hyperloop-style replaceable passenger pods were examined as a way to cut boarding delays, citing a 1999 US patent (US5950543) as prior art that Elon Musk later popularized.

• Seasteading viability was debated: large-scale, high-speed mass transport (airships or “volantors”) was argued to be a prerequisite for small communities, while submersible living was judged cramped and logistically tethered to land supply chains yet potentially harder for states to destroy.

• Practical pharmacology comparisons between Cymbalta (duloxetine) and Wellbutrin (bupropion) for treatment-resistant depression emphasized Cymbalta’s severe withdrawal syndrome and leaned toward bupropion when SSRIs fail.

• Dallas Maker Space (https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/) and the ##biohack IRC channel were highlighted as active communities for DIY biology and space-habitat experimentation.