# Key Points from IRC Log

• John McCarthy, a pioneer in artificial intelligence, was reported to have died, following shortly after Dennis Ritchie's passing, prompting discussion about the loss of computing pioneers.

• A DIY scanning electron microscope project was discussed, with participants noting it could be built for around $1500 plus additional components, though scanning probe microscopes were identified as the only ones capable of single-atom chemistry.

• Surface plasmon resonance imaging was mentioned in relation to a company called Integrated Plasmonics that was described as focusing on product development rather than web presence.

• Several participants mentioned taking an AI class together, discussing homework problems related to probability and parameter counting in Bayesian networks.

• Khan Academy videos were noted as being useful when viewed at 4x speed with subtitles, with some discussion about programmatically accessing YouTube subtitle files (.srt format).

• A project called "drugstack.com" was briefly mentioned as being developed for tracking or sharing information about supplements or medications.

• The "Church of Virus" (lucifer.com/virus/) was referenced in a discussion about transhumanist-adjacent religions or philosophical frameworks.