- A $4.8 million court judgment against Sci-Hub was noted, underscoring ongoing legal pressure on open-access scientific literature.  
- Tungsten ALD precursor was reported to cost ~40 % of platinum precursor, prompting discussion of its relative electrochemical reactivity for bio-electronics applications.  
- A Scientific American article on mail-order CRISPR kits was shared, highlighting the growing accessibility of gene-editing tools to non-specialists.  
- The paper “Flash Memory: Photochemical Imprinting of Neuronal Action Potentials onto a Microbial Rhodopsin” (ACS, 2014) was linked as a method for optically recording neural activity.  
- Coverage of Krista and Tatiana Hogan, conjoined twins with a thalamic bridge, described shared sensory input and apparent telepathic communication, framed as a real-world model for studying hive-mind phenomena.  
- The International Brain Laboratory (launched Sept 2017) and the Neurodata Without Borders (NWB) data standard were introduced as large-scale open neuroscience initiatives.  
- Multiple links on DNA data storage were circulated, including a Scientist article on making DNA data storage practical and an upcoming NIPS talk on clustering billions of reads for DNA storage.  
- LedgerX’s blog post critiquing cash-settled Bitcoin futures was shared for its technical analysis of settlement risk.