- nmz787 is troubleshooting a PVC vacuum chamber that stalls at 8.3 Torr while the pump alone reaches 1×10⁻² Torr; suspected leaks are brass tee fittings, and PVC’s porosity is noted as a possible issue.  
- Discussion of SEM acquisition and repair: nmz787 has the parts to rebuild a column and attempt pump-down with fresh oil, while juri_ laments the loss of an old SEM and both monitor eBay for affordable units.  
- lsneff requests and quickly finds the out-of-print book “Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines” by Freitas & Merkle; nsh supplies a direct PDF link (93.174.95.29).  
- Debate on why molecular nanotechnology has stalled: kanzure argues that progress requires direct engineering effort rather than persuasion, and questions whether protein-based construction can bypass the protein-folding problem by treating amino-acid strings as programmable building blocks.  
- kanzure proposes a 2-D “surface-bound” nanofactory concept in which DNA scaffolds route intermediates between immobilized catalytic proteins, contrasting with 3-D positional-assembly visions.  
- Recent literature is mined for enabling techniques: RecA- or dCas9-reinforced DNA origami, metallized DNA filaments for nanolithography (Nature Comms 2013), glutaraldehyde cross-linking, spider-silk/FIB patterning (IEEE 2018), and polyphenol-based molecular “Lego” bricks.  
- Ralph Merkle, Robert Freitas, and others surface in a stealth startup, CBN Nano Technologies Inc., awarded US patent 20190250187 on mechanosynthesis and backed by a CAD $40 M Canadian government grant; the patent largely re-packages classic mechanosynthesis tooltips.  
- nmz787 highlights the combinatorial gap between DNA (4 bases) and >140 naturally occurring amino acids, arguing that protein origami is vastly more complex than DNA origami; he also notes that low-dose FIB ions can cross-link polymers, paralleling DNA metallization chemistry.