- A LessWrong post titled “Whole-Brain Emulation: No Progress on C. elegans After 10 Years” was circulated and archived, sparking discussion about the stagnation of even the simplest whole-brain emulation project.  
- Participants questioned the post’s claim that tail-landing rockets were first achieved by SpaceX in 2015; fenn countered that the McDonnell Douglas DC-X accomplished vertical rocket landings in 1993, illustrating how “firsts” can be overlooked when prior work is ignored.  
- NIH and Nature Metabolism papers were shared showing that the exercise-induced peptide irisin crosses the blood–brain barrier and significantly boosts cognitive performance in mice, positioning it as a potential nootropic or therapeutic target for neurodegeneration.  
- The conversation implicitly framed open questions around why small-model organism emulation has stalled and whether overlooked historical engineering successes could inform timelines for more complex bio- and neuro-technologies.