- Matt Taylor’s talk “The Biological Path Towards Strong AI” was circulated as a recommended watch, prompting skepticism about Numenta’s biological credentials.  
- China’s Regenovo unveiled the Bio-Architect X, billed as the country’s first high-throughput 3-D bioprinter for mass-producing human tissues; discussion centered on whether its output is vascularized, a key hurdle for functional organoids.  
- A transcript from the HGP-Write meeting was shared, describing “meganoids”—hiPSC-derived liver organoids that grow to hacky-sack size and remain viable for months thanks to deep vascularization—and the vision of “programmable organoids” with rewritable genomes for renewable anti-aging tissue.  
- A Science paper on human-specific brain organization was highlighted, noting the discovery of dopaminergic neocortical interneurons present in humans but absent in closely related non-human primates, underscoring ongoing surprises in comparative neuroanatomy.  
- CME Group’s self-certification of cash-settled Bitcoin futures (launching 18 Dec 2017) was debated; participants argued that physically delivered contracts would be preferable and lamented rushed regulatory catch-up.  
- HVMN (formerly Nootrobox) was criticized after an internal study found its nootropic “SPRINT” less effective than coffee, illustrating pitfalls in the commercial nootropics space.  
- A Maslow CNC 4×8 cable-driven wood router kit was discussed; builders praised its open-source design while questioning the need for custom servos and PCBs.  
- Amazon’s acquisition of FreeRTOS was noted as a significant event for the open-source embedded-OS ecosystem.