# Key Points from IRC Discussion on Transhumanism and Open Science

• Users discussed a da Vinci surgical robot demonstration video showing the machine stitching a grape, clarifying that this represents remote-controlled surgery rather than autonomous medical intervention.

• The conversation highlighted significant ethical concerns about academic publishing practices, particularly ProQuest's requirement for non-exclusive licenses of dissertations, which forces researchers to grant commercial rights to their work.

• Participants debated the merits of different Creative Commons licensing options, with several users advising against non-commercial (NC) licenses due to their ambiguity and potential unintended consequences for knowledge sharing.

• The group discussed advanced biometric authentication technologies including vein scanning (using infrared light to map blood vessels) and ECG-based methods, with questions about how emotional states might affect the reliability of these systems.

• A user shared their work on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) project, noting the technical similarities between SEM technology and cathode ray tubes (CRTs).

• The conversation included technical inquiries about optical dip probes with SMA connectors for spectrometry applications, discussing different probe types and their potential uses in chemical analysis.

• Participants expressed concern about preserving scientific knowledge repositories like Libgen and Sci-Hub, noting that Sci-Hub's alleged creator had previously visited the channel and was facing legal challenges from Elsevier.