- Participants debated whether plant polyphenols act as direct radical scavengers or via hormetic up-regulation of endogenous defenses, citing evidence that high-dose astaxanthin and polypodium leucotomos measurably extend sunburn time and noting that flavonoids like quercetin absorb most terrestrial UV, suggesting animals co-opt plant pigments as natural sunscreens.

- A pre-print (bioRxiv 2024.05.08.593200) was shared describing a bacterial DRT2 antiviral pathway that reverse-transcribes a non-coding RNA into a novel, nearly endless ORF gene that arrests cell growth and blocks phage replication, expanding the concept of RNA-templated genome expansion.

- The group brainstormed ultra-low-cost nutrition production using bacterial or kombucha-SCOBY cellulose bioreactors fed on wood waste or straw to generate protein, acetic acid, and nucleotide feedstocks, while evaluating feedstocks like peas, soy, and fungal biomass for dual amino-acid and nucleobase extraction.

- DIY hardware hacks included propagating Komagataeibacter rhaeticus PG2 (a high-yield cellulose strain from a 2022 Nature Communications paper) for biomaterial projects, repurposing a $20 Walmart griddle as a thermo-former and potential tube-furnace heater, and experimenting with shallow cafeteria trays and sugar-water-sprayed paper to grow “kombucha leather.”

- Atmospheric CO₂ removal via olivine weathering was discussed, with Project Vesta’s open-ocean method requiring rock grinding to ≤4 µm to cut reaction times from centuries to years at an estimated $10–60 per ton CO₂, and alternative ideas such as windhexe micronizers, UV-exposed desert piles, and acid-grinding in CO₂-rich slurries.

- Wearable and implantable biosensor trends were reviewed, covering the defunct GlucoWatch, current Apple Watch tapping input, ring-based sleep trackers, and the gap between promised subdermal flex circuits and practical non-bulky implants, with newcomers advised to start with off-the-shelf CGM patches and open-source smartwatch sensor hacking.

- Knowledge-management tooling was noted: gwillen’s automated daily summaries of #hplusroadmap logs using Claude-3-Haiku (via a now-deprecated Langchain pipeline) and future plans to fine-tune open-source LLMs and auto-update the diyhpl.us wiki with chat-derived insights.

- Practical resources linked included Y Combinator’s open-sourced SAFE and Series A documents, the “Personal Science Guide to the Microbiome,” and a Thought Emporium video on DIY culture media using household items to replace costly fetal bovine serum.