- A 2001 DARPA report on “Future Strategic Issues & Future Warfare Circa 2025” was circulated, focusing on military predictions and introducing the concept of “binary bio” weapons—harmless until two separately innocuous components combine.  
- An electrically-removable adhesive (ElectRelease™) was highlighted; participants speculated about reversible adhesion for climbing microrobots and programmable conveyor-belt surfaces.  
- Wei Dai’s LessWrong post arguing that AGI will dramatically increase economies of scale was shared, prompting debate on whether large-scale coordination failures are a more realistic concern than “fairy-tale” scenarios like instant nanotech takeover.  
- Discussion contrasted the historical lack of export controls on hobbyist drone flight electronics with the current alarm over AI and bio risks, questioning why no equivalent regulatory panic emerged for drones after 2001.  
- Participants noted an “uncanny valley” effect: the closer a technology is to practical realization, the more it is dismissed as speculative, complicating risk assessment and public policy.