- A simulated moth brain was successfully trained to classify MNIST digits, illustrating the power of minimal neural architectures for pattern recognition (paper: Delahunt & Kutz, OpenReview).  
- A portable, freeze-dried “cell-free” synthetic-biology kit was highlighted that enables on-demand, field-deployable production of therapeutics, vaccines, and small molecules without living cells or refrigeration (Cell paper, 2016).  
- Discussion centered on the ethics and urgency of distributing Sci-Hub’s 50-million-paper corpus; participants argued that sole custody by one individual risks permanent loss and that wide mirroring is a moral imperative for preserving the Enlightenment record.  
- Practical advice was exchanged on balancing infant care with founding a deep-tech startup, including the unpredictability of child schedules, the feasibility of lab work with a baby carrier, and the non-financial value of early parenting.  
- New tools and resources mentioned: SolidPython-to-OpenSCAD-to-FEM workflow in FreeCAD, Python-based cell-free simulation library (txtlsim-python), micropublication.org for ultra-rapid scientific communications, and >50 GB PromethION nanopore runs demonstrating real-time human genome sequencing.