- Open Philanthropy released a new “Brain Computation Report” that was circulated for comment on the channel.  
- Discussion centered on Elon Musk’s $100 M carbon-capture X-Prize: participants debated whether the goal is merely to isolate CO₂ or to convert it into stable hydrocarbons, with methane (CH₄) viewed as a poor choice because of its high energy-per-carbon ratio.  
- Spiroligomers—rigid, shape-programmable small molecules developed by the Schafmeister group—were proposed as a scalable platform for both artificial photosynthesis (sunlight-driven CO₂ fixation) and antibody-mimetic antiviral drugs; a channel member reported possible summer research with the group.  
- A NASA patent (US9528192B1) describing a solar-powered CO₂-to-fuel process was cited as evidence that the basic chemistry already exists, but scalability and catalyst efficiency remain open problems.  
- Participants sketched a modular pathway for sunlight-driven carbon fixation: (1) CO₂ capture via CaO or Li bases, (2) photocatalytic O₂ cleavage, (3) polymerization to long-chain hydrocarbons such as polyethylene or diamondoid solids.