- Alan Rominger’s “gravitational balloon” concept proposes kilometer-scale pressurized spheres in space whose internal air pressure is balanced by the weight of an asteroid shell; internal microgravity is addressed with small centrifugal “towns,” potentially scaling to gigacity populations.  
- Discussion of O’Neill cylinder economics: an 8 km × 30 km habitat offers ~750 km²; at urban densities it could house ~10 million people, whereas farmland-style agriculture would support only ~3,000, highlighting the trade-off between living density and food production.  
- Energy and sustainability: muurkha calculates that intensive sun-fed agriculture can yield 15–70 dry t/ha/yr, translating to ~20,000 people/km² if all biomass is recycled, framing closed-loop life-support for space colonies.  
- David Sinclair’s new “DNA-repair” anti-aging pill was announced; participants weighed willingness to enroll in a clinical trial, while L29Ah noted Sinclair’s prolific but sometimes hype-heavy track record.  
- Cognitive-enhancement experiments: users compared phenylpiracetam, Alpha-GPC, citicoline, and huperzine A, with jrayhawk proposing an “acetylcholine-confidence interval” model that links neurotransmitter levels to movement along a theoretical-to-applied reasoning gradient.  
- Debate on the definition of “renewable” energy: a Stanford paper claims tidal power is non-renewable because it saps Earth’s rotational energy; counter-arguments include selective extraction and macro-scale flow management that could even accelerate or decelerate planetary rotation.  
- Stephen Wolfram’s explainer “What Is ChatGPT Doing and Why Does It Work?” and the AlpacaEval leaderboard (with xwin rated #1) were offered as up-to-date LLM review resources, while llama-2-chat was panned.  
- Practical biohacking: docl speculated that future homes may be hermetically sealed against engineered pathogens or nanotech threats, and jrayhawk shared personal protocols for managing hyperhomocysteinemia and poor carotenoid conversion via high-dose choline and liver supplementation.