- Electrical-discharge machining (EDM) was highlighted as a high-resolution method for fabricating injection-moulding dies; participants noted that it relies on a controlled plasma arc in a dielectric fluid and can achieve sub-100 µm precision, prompting discussion of DIY implementations and CNC integration.  
- A hardware debugging thread explored unexplained 60 Hz ripple on the high-voltage side of a power-supply board; possible causes included damaged diodes, capacitors, or inadvertent antenna effects on the HV traces.  
- Liz Parrish’s BioViva interview transcript (ABC Lateline, 2016) was circulated, covering early human gene-therapy trials aimed at extending health-span.  
- A 2014 Nature paper showing that induced pluripotent stem cells from XX, XO, and XY donors could be coaxed into functional sperm in xenotransplanted testes was summarized, raising the prospect of female-derived sperm and all-female offspring.  
- MPEGLA’s announcement of a CRISPR patent pool was flagged as a potentially disruptive licensing development for open-source bioengineering projects.  
- The open-hardware blog post “Open Source Needs FPGAs; FPGAs Need an On-ramp” was shared, along with criticism that it neglects FPGA power consumption in consumer devices.  
- Links to experimental neuroscience tools included a new GUI for the NEURON simulator and an open-access eLife paper modelling stochastic search behaviour in C. elegans, accompanied by an OpenWorm journal-club video discussion.  
- A practical graphene question—“I have some graphene, what do I do with it?”—was posed, inviting suggestions for experiments or applications.  
- A draft gist demonstrated an attempt at BLS signature aggregation, with accompanying updates to the DIYHPL wiki transcripts on pairing-based cryptography and Schnorr signatures over secp256k1.