- A newly published double-blind RCT shows that 200 mg modafinil, 20 mg methylphenidate, and 200 mg caffeine each significantly improve chess performance (deeper move analysis) compared with placebo, confirming anecdotal use among high-level players.  
- Jeffrey Beall’s widely-used “predatory publishers” list was abruptly taken offline, prompting debate over the risks of having such an important resource curated by a single individual.  
- Discussion of “open source biology” highlighted the lack of a clear legal framework: DNA sequences may be publicly known yet still patent-encumbered, and transfer agreements (UBMTA, OMTA, BPA 2.0) create complex restrictions on sharing plasmids and other materials.  
- A participant sought the strawberry-scent E. coli plasmid popularized by Endy’s lab; others noted it is likely locked under an academic UBMTA and would need de-novo synthesis to be truly “liberated.”  
- The BioBricks Foundation is developing the Open Material Transfer Agreement (OMTA) and BioBrick Public Agreement 2.0 to create patent-free, shareable biological parts, but enforcement uncertainty remains.  
- Links shared: AAAI-17 accepted-papers list, RFC 8041 on Multipath TCP, OnionCat (IPv6-over-Tor), Python-to-circuits transpiler HN thread, and a $1 000 JoinMarket bounty for making the tumbler idempotent.