• maaku is recruiting coders to build better open-source CAD/CAM software, with an emphasis on molecular-level CAD tools for atomically precise manufacturing (APM).

• juri_ argues that projective geometric algebra is the optimal mathematical framework for CAD/CAM because it keeps computations in the FPU-friendly N+1 dimensional space, preserving extra precision.

• docl outlines a “rapid APM via AGI” scenario in which a super-intelligent system infers physics from limited data (e.g., YouTube videos) and designs working APM models in simulation before any physical experiment.

• nmz787 and docl explore using focused-ion-beam (FIB) milling with sub-nanometer stencils or shadow masks to remove single atoms from diamond surfaces, discussing sputter rates, aperture erosion, and self-aligning voltage tricks.

• maaku and muurkha caution that simulations and first-principles models are always simplifications; without empirical calibration they can magnify numerical artifacts and produce non-physical results, undercutting the “AI-FOOM from pure theory” narrative.

• kanzure revives Feynman’s “machines making smaller machines” idea; maaku notes that each length-scale step (cm → mm → µm → nm) requires re-engineering for electrostatics, friction, and surface forces, making a direct-to-APM path preferable.

• muurkha advocates staying in the liquid phase throughout fabrication to avoid super-critical-drying damage and stiction, contrasting with vacuum/gas-phase processes like Zyvex’s mechanosynthesis.

• maaku and fenn debate whether diamond mechanosynthesis can ever work in solution; highly reactive hydrogen-abstraction tooltips demand vacuum, although fenn suggests local nano-shrouds or noble-gas backfill as possible work-arounds.

• docl proposes training AI rationality by giving historical data sets (e.g., pre-Newtonian observations) and rewarding the system when it converges on correct theories (Principia, relativity) while filtering “green-ink” crackpot ideas.

• Python security discussion: nmz787 links to a recent bugfix release that disables int/str conversions for integers >4300 digits by default to prevent DoS attacks.