• A pre-print titled “DNA-based chemical compiler” (arXiv:1808.04790) was circulated and widely criticized for its misleading title, with Hacker News echoing the complaint.  
• A Runtime Verification blog post was shared explaining how formal mathematical proofs can prevent costly bugs in smart-contract code.  
• A PLOS ONE double-blind crossover study (10.1371/journal.pone.0201246) demonstrated that pre-sleep galantamine significantly increases lucid-dream frequency; participants debated optimal dosing (8 mg ineffective for some) and alternative cholinergics such as coluracetam and sunifiram.  
• Wired and Vanity Fair articles on human germline editing and dog cloning prompted discussion of unpublished Chinese embryo-editing experiments and the Francis Crick Institute’s CRISPR embryo work aimed at basic science rather than reproduction.  
• Jennifer Doudna’s public fear of “IVF clinics offering a menu of designer babies” was dismissed by participants as an impediment to beneficial enhancement technologies.  
• “FluoEM,” a technique for virtual fluorescent labeling of axons in 3-D electron-microscopy volumes, was introduced as a scalable route to long-range connectomics (eLife 2018;7:e38976).  
• A 1843 Magazine feature on “How to Edit a Human” summarized current CRISPR clinical trials and regulatory landscapes.  
• Jason Pontin’s Wired opinion piece advocating genetic engineering specifically for Mars colonization framed off-world settlement as a driver for radical human enhancement.