- DNA and other polymer-based data storage was briefly discussed as a viable archival medium.  
- A pre-print on protein-folding RNNs (biorxiv.org/265231) was circulated, prompting questions about an open-source implementation and how it differs from nanopore approaches.  
- A 1975 paper reporting functional fingertip regeneration in juvenile rhesus monkeys was highlighted; participants noted the absence of recent clinical follow-up on similar regrowth in human children, leaving the human regenerative capacity question open.  
- Josiah Zayner’s latest biohacking video was shared (Facebook link), with side commentary on the low transfection efficiency of his recent self-experiments.  
- Debate over semiconductor-fab “stepper” costs: participants questioned whether $100 M price tags reflect genuine engineering complexity or market-limited demand fallacies, concluding that long-term demand for computation and data is effectively unbounded.  
- A dumpster-found syringe-and-tape “lab” rig was posted (imgur.com/a/2c3pI) as an example of improvised bio-lab hardware.  
- Unpaywall.org’s refusal to harvest from Sci-Hub or ResearchGate was criticized as overly cautious; the eLife paper “Sci-Hub provides access to nearly all scholarly literature” was cited in support of open-access advocacy.  
- A Nature Scientific Reports paper on activity-dependent synaptic plasticity (s41598-017-17546-0) was floated as a potential basis for intelligence-enhancement protocols.