# Key Points from IRC Discussion

• Researchers discussed methods for measuring extremely thin molybdenum samples (25 microns), sharing educational resources on eddy current applications for thickness measurements, though the samples were thinner than the minimum requirements for standard eddy current probes (0.3mm).

• Paperbot was enhanced with pdfparanoia functionality to automatically remove identifying watermarks from academic papers, with commits by Bryan Bishop improving support for various academic publishers including AIP.org.

• Participants expressed frustration about academic publisher paywalls, specifically mentioning Oxford Journals' digital archive restrictions and the Royal Society of Chemistry's pricing policies for teaching materials.

• A discussion of gene synthesis pricing revealed that DNA20 was charging over $1.00 per base pair in 2011, with references to Ginkgo Bioworks' commercial gene synthesis services.

• Gold sputtering techniques were mentioned as a method for coating non-conductive materials to make them visible under electron microscopes, alongside a reference to an ion drive experiment producing monomolecular sheets of gold as a byproduct.

• A Tor service for PDF leaks was shared (http://jtdzkgzfpvhryjv6.onion/), though it appeared to have little activity at the time, reflecting the group's interest in open access to scientific literature.