- IEEE Spectrum article “Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported” was shared as a cautionary example of how early commercial retinal implants can leave patients with non-functional hardware once companies abandon the technology.  
- NSF’s new SemiSynBio-III program (Semiconductor Synthetic Biology Circuits and Communications for Information Storage) was highlighted as a funding opportunity that aims to merge synthetic biology with semiconductor devices for ultra-dense data storage.  
- Quaise Inc.’s plan to drill 12-mile-deep geothermal wells using gyrotron-generated millimeter waves (not optical lasers) was discussed; participants noted that while the resource base dwarfs wind and solar, the economics still hinge on the high cost of conventional steam turbines.  
- A gyrotron was identified as a high-power vacuum tube that emits millimeter waves via electron cyclotron resonance in strong magnetic fields, providing the core heating mechanism for Quaise’s enhanced geothermal system.  
- ArXiv preprint “Project Hephaistos I. Upper limits on partial Dyson spheres in the Milky Way” was shared; the authors report candidate stars with spectra resembling partial Dyson spheres and promise a follow-up paper focusing on the most promising targets.