- **Database integrity via blockchain timestamping**: kanzure proposed anchoring a Merkle-root hash of database state into the Bitcoin blockchain to create an unforgeable audit trail; fenn noted this resembles Git but lacks a query language, while nsh questioned real-world use-cases beyond centralized trust models.

- **Cryonics vs. aldehyde fixation debate**: darsie explored performing glutaraldehyde brain preservation on healthy volunteers in legal grey zones (Liberland, Svalbard) for future mind-uploading; fenn countered that reversible aldehyde chemistries are unproven and warned that mass adoption could deplete the living researcher pool needed to revive preserved brains.

- **Automated euthanasia & perfusion robotics**: Discussion turned to fully robotic systems—computer-vision-guided IV cannulation and anesthesia—to circumvent medical-staff liability when administering lethal glutaraldehyde perfusion, referencing prior animal protocols that used simple two-cannula setups.

- **Consciousness persistence after decapitation**: docl cited rat experiments showing EEG silence within 3.7 s of decapitation yet a “wave of death” ~60 s later, with neurons theoretically recoverable after 15 min of anoxia; historical anecdotes (Lavoisier, Soviet dog-head experiments) were mentioned as context.

- **WHO COVID-19 naming critique**: fenn shared a Twitter thread arguing that “SARS-2” would have been more medically consistent than “COVID-19,” highlighting ongoing friction between virological accuracy and public-health messaging.

- **DIY birch-pollen desensitization**: TMA asked for simple protocols to self-prepare “pollen vaccines” to combat seasonal allergies, indicating interest in open-source immunotherapy.

- **Microbiome variability puzzle**: fenn linked a Quanta article questioning why microbiomes are critical in some species but negligible in others, underscoring open research questions in host–microbe co-evolution.