- A tongue-in-cheek NEJM paper on national chocolate consumption versus Nobel laureates was shared as an example of spurious correlations in cognitive enhancement discourse.  
- Discussion of a new Science paper showing that human layer-2/3 cortical neurons generate dendritic action potentials, implying more powerful single-cell computation than previously recognized.  
- CVE-2020-0601 (Windows CryptoAPI spoofing) was highlighted; NSA warns it can enable remote-code execution via man-in-the-middle tampering of trusted update channels.  
- The open-source Linear Book Scanner project (linearbookscanner.org) was linked; participants brainstormed low-cost page-turning mechanisms—vacuum plus air-knife separation, static electricity, and even laser page slicing were considered.  
- A PNAS paper on “reconfigurable organisms” (living robots made from frog cells) was critiqued: current work only achieves simple locomotion and lacks full 3-D morphological programmability, making existing microorganisms a more practical chassis.  
- A Nature paper on a de-novo-designed protein switch was noted as a promising modular, tunable biological feedback-control element for synthetic biology circuits.  
- Phys.org coverage of 3-D DNA-origami frameworks capable of self-assembling ordered nanostructures was mentioned as incremental rather than revolutionary.