- Ongoing attempts to create a full offline copy of Sci-Hub were described as “many attempts have been made and are on-going,” with no success reported so far.  
- A Kickstarter project for “cell-free” biology kits (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cellfree/1620193934) was shared as a possible route to sidestep GMO regulatory hurdles by running reactions outside living cells.  
- A Nature Biotechnology paper (DOI 10.1038/nbt.3357) on “Sub-angstrom single-molecule measurements of motor proteins using a nanopore” was highlighted as a new tool for ultra-high-resolution biophysics.  
- Discussion of extreme-UV lithography noted that 7 nm wavelength processes now rely on computationally generated diffractive masks and questioned what lens and mask materials (quartz vs. newer compounds) survive EUV exposure.  
- nmz787 proposed experimenting with focused-ion-beam (FIB) ablation of metal-coated glass slides to fabricate planar metalenses, sharing Harvard Capasso-group code and images (https://gist.github.com/nmz787/83a826ca4d40011262e7382b46c22570, https://imgur.com/PKFXtCV).  
- A brief design brainstorm considered which bird species would offer the best starting point for human-avian hybridization aimed at personal flight, contingent on future ex-vivo embryo incubation to avoid human suffering.  
- Oculus Rift delivery was anticipated as a gateway to immersive visualization of protein structures in VR.