Tran$actional market in EteRNA as a way to improve game? People could spend their $points to buy script writing or some other service or “stock” from another player–it would first lower their $ and possibly rank but later if they bought wisely might increase both. Would use the investment and transaction in $points to drive efficient solution search. Maybe I write great scripts and code but not so hot at direct puzzle solving and you are my opposite–the game benefits from us trading our mutually reinforcing skills. I buy stock in Brourd/Fisker/whomever ad get points when their solutions are picked separate from my voting in lab.
Political polling of strategic solution methods or investigational ideas. Vote for an idea–let’s say melt plots shape or change, or temp ratio in switches, or dot plot bias towards one state or another—whatever. Then use the consensus polling/voting to drive labs and lab voting . Like a political campaign, "fads’ of ideas will eventually rise in this game—how do we discover if they are good/bad efficiently? Political polling should work, IMO.