- Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) was discussed as a drought-resistant “common weed” that may offer edible and pharmacological value; one participant planned to taste-test it from their garden.  
- The term “dark fixation” was introduced as a biowizardy synonym for the metabolic pathway that allows some plants to fix carbon without typical photosynthesis, referencing a 1977 paper on the topic.  
- A $12 M seed round for RISC Zero was announced, aiming to bring zero-knowledge proofs to the broader blockchain space.  
- Several NFC-based hardware wallets were shared: Keycard, Tapsigner, Beamu, CoolWallet, highlighting the trend toward air-gapped, card-form crypto custody.  
- A teardown photo set of an ABI 391 DNA synthesizer was posted to the DIYbio wiki, adding practical documentation for open-source bio-hardware hackers.  
- A long technical thread explored Zhegalkin polynomials (algebraic normal form) as a way to convert truth tables into XOR-of-minterm expressions, with side notes on how this simplifies SAT encoding.  
- Participants debated the economics of synthetic biology, noting that while printing an E. coli genome might soon cost ~$450, booting it still requires living chassis and community exchange of agar stabs.