• Prellis Biologics has demonstrated 3-D bioprinting that can fabricate kidney vasculature in under 12 hours, a milestone toward lab-grown organs.  
• Two DIY laminar-flow-hood designs are under evaluation: a surplus 48-inch clean-room HEPA/fan unit (~$150) versus inexpensive Chinese benchtop hoods whose replacement filters are reportedly unavailable.  
• A bioRxiv preprint and accompanying news coverage argue that brain-structure differences—cortical thickness and surface area—mediate the well-known height–intelligence correlation.  
• Channel participants explored in-utero interventions such as optogenetic stimulation or transient BMP signaling as potential shortcuts to boost encephalization and cortical folding without editing the full polygenic architecture of intelligence.  
• Human brain growth data show ~28 % of adult volume at birth followed by ~1 % daily expansion during the first three months, prompting debate over how much post-natal growth is pre-patterned versus environmentally driven.  
• Experimental neuronal enhancement strategies discussed include GRIN2B over-expression and tet-regulated NMDA-receptor up-regulation as tractable ways to improve learning and memory.  
• A 2008 Royal Society paper reports that hippocampal volumes and neuron counts increase along a gradient of environmental harshness, suggesting ecological pressure drives structural brain expansion.  
• Neuroimaging findings complicate “bigger-is-better” assumptions: a 2004 study found no strong correlation between hippocampus size and memory performance, yet in male children larger hippocampi correlate with higher verbal IQ, and in adults the first principal shape component of the left hippocampus predicts working-memory performance.  
• Participants highlighted the absence of open-source hardware/software for hearing-impaired users, who remain dependent on proprietary, surgically implanted hearing aids with closed firmware.