- Helen Keller’s 1928 demonstration of tactile speech learning—feeling laryngeal, labial and nasal vibrations—was cited as inspiration for a tongue-in-cheek “Google Glass upgrade” that would place an artificial hand on the user’s face to provide similar haptic feedback for silent communication.  
- A collection of anti-MPEG-LA links was shared, covering critiques of patent-encumbered video codecs and arguments for open alternatives such as VP8; sources included Forbes, End Software Patents, TechRights and Engadget.  
- DIY longevity discussion centered on senolytics: a user reported self-experimenting with plant-derived Bcl-2 inhibitors, while others referenced the new FOXO4-DRI peptide (H-LTLRKEPASEIAQSILEAYSQNGWANRRSGGKRPPPRRRQRRKKRG-OH) and the March 2017 paper “Targeted apoptosis of senescent cells restores tissue homeostasis.”  
- Recent bio-tech links circulated: Quake-lab startup Agenovir aims to use CRISPR-Cas9 as an antiviral therapy; a BioRxiv preprint describes multi-electrode-array recording of action-potential propagation in single axons; another preprint reports “high-accuracy base calls in nanopore sequencing” via unsupervised machine learning; and a new “synthetic optogenetics” approach attaches photoswitches to arbitrary neuronal receptors.  
- A back-of-the-envelope calculation estimated that photosynthetic human skin would require ~30 m² on Earth (or ~10 m² in continuous sunlight) to meet daily metabolic needs, prompting debate over whether to engineer higher photosynthetic efficiency, lower human energy demand, or both.  
- Sci-Hub was recommended as the default method for bypassing paywalls (insert “sci-hub.io” just after the protocol in any URL).  
- Discussion of isotope-separation economics cited a YouTube claim that refining K-41 by mass spectrometer costs ~$70 M per kg; participants questioned the energy accounting and brainstormed lower-cost alternatives such as gaseous KCl enrichment or magnetic-induction deflection of laser-ablated ion beams.