- Complementary e-beam lithography (CEBL) is being explored as a mask-free way to cut narrow lines in advanced nodes after optical lithography lays down the wider features; a 2012 white-paper (7970_36.pdf) and recent ElectroIQ article were shared as primers.  
- Multi-beam e-beam systems (e.g., ASML’s R&D and European massively-parallel projects) aim to boost throughput enough to replace photons entirely, but current write times still reach 18–72 h for complex masks.  
- Participants floated a niche business case: reverse-engineering and re-fabricating obsolete ICs (e.g., the handful of no-longer-made Commodore 64 chips) using low-cost optical + CEBL hybrid flows.  
- YInMn Blue—the first new inorganic, non-toxic, IR-reflective blue pigment in decades—was highlighted as an example of how rare genuinely new pigments are and how sensory-enhancement wearables might accelerate future discoveries.  
- Mars methane seasonality (Science 360:1093) and NASA’s Curiosity data were discussed as astrobiology-relevant puzzles.  
- A Roswell Bio patent (WO2016210386A1) on polymerase-tethered nanopore sensors was posted for review.  
- DIYbio’s public image (“DIYbio gets a poxy rap,” Nature Biotech 2018) and iGEM’s push for inter-lab synthetic-biology standards were circulated.  
- UK’s “National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030” roadmap was linked as a policy reference.  
- Ethical debate: 3–5 % of live births reportedly have genetic disorders, prompting links to pro-embryo-editing arguments (“moral imperative” paper) and critiques of the “popular view” that condemns genetic engineering while tolerating donor selection.