# Key Points from IRC Conversation

• Participants discussed brain emulation requirements, calculating that simulating a human brain in real time would need approximately 10,000 terabytes of storage and 24-52 megawatts of power using current GPU technology (equivalent to 136,500 Titan Blacks or 405,000 GTX 750 Ti GPUs).

• The group shared resources on brain emulation including 3scan.com, the Brain Emulation Roadmap Report, and transcripts from H+ Summit 2009 and Singularity Summit 2009, demonstrating ongoing interest in whole brain emulation technologies.

• A technical discussion explored mental cryptography, concluding that while humans could theoretically perform encryption algorithms like RSA with very small keys (6 bits), practical security would require manipulating 48-decimal digit numbers, making it infeasible for human mental computation.

• Xentrac proposed an optical switching concept using Snell's law and total internal reflection, suggesting that a cracked piece of glass could be switched between transmission and reflection states by applying strong electric fields at frequencies close to light.

• The community showed interest in neurotechnology, discussing transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for cognitive enhancement while referencing Gwern's "Algernon argument" about potential long-term safety concerns of enhancement techniques.

• Participants discussed epigenetic inheritance mechanisms, referencing a Nature Neuroscience paper about sperm RNAs potentially transmitting effects of early trauma across generations in mice.