# Key Points from IRC Log (May 25, 2016)

• The Pebble Core was discussed as a potential audio capture tool, though its battery life of "up to 9 hours" was considered insufficient for all-day use, with suggestions that disabling GPS might extend battery life.

• Participants discussed GPS tracking for pets and livestock, including the concept of using drones to monitor pets remotely, GPS-based "invisible fence" systems, and commercial applications like CowChips.net for estrus detection in cattle.

• Several scientific papers on microbiome research were shared, including evidence that gut microbiota and host genomes form a coadapted "hologenome" that breaks down during hybridization, promoting hybrid lethality and assisting speciation in parasitoid wasps.

• Research suggesting microbes may influence human food cravings and behavior was discussed, with microbes potentially generating cravings for foods they specialize in or inducing dysphoria until hosts eat foods that enhance microbial fitness.

• A paper on "Generation of Locomotor-Like Activity in the Isolated Rat Spinal Cord Using Intraspinal Electrical Microstimulation Driven by a Digital Neuromorphic CPG" was shared, relating to neuroprosthetics research.

• A study on "Fundamental limits to nonlinear energy harvesting" from MIT was shared, exploring theoretical constraints in energy harvesting systems.