• A new pre-print argues that individual cortical neurons behave like deep artificial neural networks, suggesting far greater computational complexity per cell than previously assumed (arXiv:2306.16922, bioRxiv 613141).  
• Alibaba listings for <$1 000 handheld ultrasound probes were circulated as a low-cost alternative to Rothberg’s high-end devices, indicating rapid commoditization of pocket imaging tech.  
• Discussion revived the 19th-century “Sahara Sea” macro-engineering concept—flooding Saharan basins with Atlantic or Mediterranean water—to explore large-scale geo-engineering and climate impacts.  
• A long debate framed human metabolism as a heat engine: maintaining 37 °C enables otherwise impossible biochemical reactions that ultimately perform mechanical work, challenging narrow thermodynamic definitions.  
• Participants analyzed proposals to mandate or tax dark roofing materials to increase urban albedo; Fermi estimates suggested the global cooling effect would be ~0.0004 °C—negligible against the warming trend.  
• White or reflective roof coatings were acknowledged to cut urban heat-wave peaks by ~2 °C and lower building cooling demand, but voluntary adoption and market incentives were favored over new regulations.  
• Skepticism toward rooftop solar economics emerged: custom installs, labor costs, and permitting were said to yield poor NPV versus index-fund investing unless self-installed or grid-independence is valued.  
• Links shared included Yale e360 on reflective cities, a DOE report quantifying albedo-driven CO₂-equivalent savings, and Jaynes’ classic paper on entropy to clarify thermodynamic definitions.