# Key Points from IRC Discussions

• Participants discussed regenerative medicine techniques using extracellular matrix (ECM) from pig tissues, including challenges of viral particle removal, potential applications, and the industrial-scale extraction of collagen (available at ~$10/kg), with some sharing evidence of successful porcine-derived small intestinal submucosa (SIS) used as aortic replacements in dogs.

• The group explored sustainable building materials and unconventional architecture, particularly bamboo (which grows up to 0.1m/day with high water efficiency) and various structural designs including mirrored cubes with infrared film, geodesic domes, and IsoTruss technology that uses composite materials in geometric lattice patterns.

• Alternative housing solutions were shared, including hexayurts (standard open source housing), monkeyhuts (used at Burning Man), and the pillowdome by New Alchemy Institute, along with discussions about cost-effective membrane materials like hindered amine light stabilized polyethylene greenhouse film.

• Space station design was analyzed, particularly Skylab's triangular grid floors with shoe cleats that allowed astronauts to position themselves, noting that rigid mesh designs were preferred over flexible alternatives for structural integrity and equipment mounting.

• Researchers discussed using open-source Digital Light Processing (DLP) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technologies for scientific applications, including cell scaffolding with photo-cured resins and sugar printing for creating biological structures.

• The conversation covered historical electronics development, from Edison's first DC network (serving only 59 customers) to Luigi Galvani's 1771 experiments with electricity causing dead frog legs to twitch, which directly influenced the "reanimation by electricity" trope in science fiction.

• Development environment tools including Vagrant, Ansible, Docker, and service discovery solutions like Serf were debated, focusing on approaches to creating consistent development and production environments.