# Key Points from Transhumanist IRC Discussion

• Participants debated the efficacy and safety of consumer-grade transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) devices like Foc.us, discussing challenges in targeting specific brain regions, the inhomogeneous electrical conductivity of brain tissue, and potential mechanisms including BDNF activation and genetic transcription.

• The conversation explored various claimed cognitive enhancement effects of tDCS, including improvements to learning, working memory, pain threshold, language acquisition, and numerical reasoning, though questions were raised about measurement verification.

• A paper was shared discussing how fasting followed by a high-fat diet could be as effective against seizures as modern anticonvulsants, touching on broader themes of dietary restriction for cellular protection and cancer treatment.

• Technical discussion covered fluid dynamics in automotive exhaust systems, comparing S-curve versus half S-curve designs and their effects on turbulence, with participants sharing actual simulation work using Autodesk and COMSOL.

• The group discussed the development of "paperbot" and "papermonk," tools for accessing academic papers that leverage Zotero's infrastructure while addressing its limitations through a modular scraper system with separate modules on npmjs.org.

• A philosophical discussion compared engine efficiency across different technologies, concluding that electric vehicles powered by nuclear/solar/wind would ultimately be more efficient than internal combustion engines.