- Aptamers were highlighted as a powerful “effector + information-storage” molecule: because the DNA or peptide sequence that binds most tightly to a target is literally attached to the target, iterative rounds of binding, extraction, PCR (or synthesis), and mutagenic selection can evolve ultra-high-affinity binders without prior structural knowledge.  
- The group discussed whether spiroligomer scaffolds (rigid synthetic oligomers) had yet been used for aptamer generation; no literature evidence was found, and the practicality of bulk random synthesis of such non-natural backbones was questioned.  
- A 2003 paper on IDRA-21, a positive allosteric modulator of AMPA receptors, was surfaced; it improved delayed-matching performance in both young and aged rhesus monkeys, illustrating continued interest in cognitive-enhancing ampakines.  
- A new theoretical-physics preprint (arxiv 2006.07125) claimed the first “hyper-fast soliton” solution within standard Einstein-Maxwell-plasma theory that could, in principle, permit apparent superluminal travel without exotic negative energy, reopening debate on physically-grounded warp mechanisms.  
- Izhikevich’s 2003 “Simple Model of Spiking Neurons” was revisited; participants noted that large-scale simulations (10¹¹ randomly connected neurons for 1 s) reproduced alpha and gamma rhythms, prompting questions about the model’s current relevance versus more detailed Blue Brain approaches.  
- A large, curated archive of AI and neuroscience PDFs (diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/ai and diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/neuro/) was shared as an open-access resource for researchers.  
- The channel weighed the utility of training GPT-3-scale transformers on the entirety of a scientific field’s literature to create a semantic search engine that surfaces cross-paper insights and latent hypotheses.  
- Career advice centered on Boston-area neurotechnology labs: Boyden Lab (syntheticneurobiology.org) and George Church’s group were described as openly collaborative, frequently “passing the good ones around like baseball cards,” with active hiring for software engineers and interdisciplinary researchers.