- Magnetogenetics breakthrough: A Nature Neuroscience paper describes genetically coupling ferritin to the TRPV4 ion-channel C-terminus, enabling neurons to be switched on/off by external magnetic fields—an early step toward non-invasive, cell-type-specific neural control.  
- Extreme miniaturization biology: Trichogrammatidae wasps (<1 mm) achieve anucleate neurons—neurons that discard their nuclei—to pack more computational power into a pin-head-sized brain, offering a biological precedent for ultra-dense neural architectures.  
- Hydrocephalus as a model for brain redundancy: MRI studies of Yorkshire terriers with enlarged ventricles show surprisingly little cortical volume loss, prompting discussion that the most severe cases (and thus greatest volume reductions) may simply not survive to be scanned.  
- Decentralized timekeeping debate: Participants evaluated using solar RF noise as a global, tamper-proof clock source; practical objections included the Sun’s non-uniform emission, local RFI corruption, and the same synchronization hurdles that have plagued distributed very-long-baseline interferometry projects.  
- DIY radio astronomy notes: superkuh described a working two-dish interferometer built from repurposed DirecTV hardware that measures beat-frequency power without synchronized clocks, but noted that dishes of this size cannot resolve anything beyond the Sun.  
- Open lab equipment alert: A fully equipped lab in Durham, NC is offering free access to a transmission electron microscope (TEM), ultramicrotome, and –80 °C freezers—resources of interest for high-resolution connectomics or nanofabrication projects.