It doesn't really solve for incessant calling by folks with dementia...but could at least spread the load a bit. I think the dementia solution is occasionally, or often(!), routing the call to an AI-friend that has endless patience for repeated questions and circular conversations.

But for a cognitively capable elderly person I think Beacon as-is actually solves for the use-case. The instigator has tons of free time and is searching for the family member who happens to be free right now.

It works as a direct service (pay money -> get published results in a couple weeks) and a crowdfunding model (nominate a product and chip in toward its testing goal). If a crowdfunded product doesn't hit its target within a year, contributions are automatically refunded.

Once funded, we buy three samples anonymously through normal retail across different production lots, and an ISO 17025-accredited lab runs GC-MS with isotope dilution. These chemicals are known or suspected endocrine disruptors, companies aren't required to disclose them, and the science is moving fast — the EU cut its "safe" BPA limit by 20,000x in 2023.

I'm also looking at a consumption-weighted model that suggests testing just ~100 high-volume grocery SKUs would cover roughly 40% of the packaged food Americans eat, by mass. That's an absurd amount of public-health leverage for a few hundred thousand dollars, and I'm working out how to fund it as a proper campaign.

I sometimes send beacons on morning commutes. Way too early for normal social calls but will sometimes catch people a few timezones east on a lunch break or something.

It works best if you're able to join with at least four people you don't speak with as much as you'd like. I have a couple dozen connections on the app now, and it feels like magic to me. Would love feedback from both introverts and extroverts who still like phone calls, or wish they had more of them:

iOS TestFlight access here -> https://trybeacon.chat/

Android also in beta here -> https://appdistribution.firebase.dev/i/afe3c44d8443c4c0

It’s basically a one-to-many phone call that only one person can answer. Send a beacon to a group, and everyone gets rung at the same time. The first person who answers gets connected for a 1-1 call, and for everyone else the signal drops silently. No missed-calls or pressure to answer. Works pretty well given most people keep their phones on silent (and there are in-app settings for quiet hours too).

iOS/TestFlight only for now. It works best if you're able to join with at least four people you don't speak with as much as you'd like. I have a couple dozen connections on the app now, and it feels like magic to me. Would love feedback from both introverts and extroverts who still like phone calls, or wish they had more of them:

https://trybeacon.chat/

Android coming soon!

Laboratory.love lets you fund independent plastic chemical lab testing of the specific foods you actually buy. Think Consumer Reports meets Kickstarter, but focused on detecting endocrine disruptors in your yogurt, your kid’s snacks, or whatever you’re curious about.

Find a product (or suggest one), contribute to its testing fund, and get full lab results when testing completes. If a product doesn’t reach its goal within 365 days, you’re automatically refunded. All results are published publicly.

This project was inspired by Nat Friedman's PlasticList.org and we use the same ISO 17025-accredited methodology they did, testing three separate production lots per product (when possible) and detecting down to parts-per-billion. The entire protocol is open.

I just published new results today! Turns out Muir Glen's caned Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes are incredibly low in plastic chemicals. Yay!

Browse funded tests, propose your own, or just follow along: https://laboratory.love

I partner with Light Labs to handle the testing → https://www.lightlabs.com/

Laboratory.love lets you fund independent plastic chemical lab testing of the specific foods you actually buy. Think Consumer Reports meets Kickstarter, but focused on detecting endocrine disruptors in your yogurt, your kid’s snacks, or whatever you’re curious about.

Find a product (or suggest one), contribute to its testing fund, and get full lab results when testing completes. If a product doesn’t reach its goal within 365 days, you’re automatically refunded. All results are published publicly.

This project was inspired by Nat Friedman's PlasticList.org and we use the same ISO 17025-accredited methodology they did, testing three separate production lots per product (when possible) and detecting down to parts-per-billion. The entire protocol is open.

I just published new results today! Turns out Muir Glen's caned Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes are incredibly low in plastic chemicals. Yay!

Browse funded tests, propose your own, or just follow along: https://laboratory.love

In 2024, PlasticList found plastic chemicals in 86% of tested foods—including 100% of baby foods they tested. Around the same time, the EU lowered its “safe” BPA limit by 20,000×, while the FDA still allows levels roughly 100× higher than Europe’s new standard.

That seemed solvable.

Laboratory.love lets you crowdfund independent lab testing of the specific products you actually buy. Think Consumer Reports × Kickstarter, but focused on detecting endocrine disruptors in your yogurt, your kid’s snacks, or whatever you’re curious about.

Find a product (or suggest one), contribute to its testing fund, and get full lab results when testing completes. If a product doesn’t reach its goal within 365 days, you’re automatically refunded. All results are published publicly. I'm actually thinking about turning off crowdfunding and making it a pure "service to be purchased" as all fully-funded products have been single-contributor driven (the refund process creates labor without a clear upside).

We use the same ISO 17025-accredited methodology as PlasticList.org, testing three separate production lots per product (when possible) and detecting down to parts-per-billion. The entire protocol is open.

*Stats as of Jan 2026*

- Since launching almost one year ago, laboratory.love has received $16,835+ in contributions across 38 products!

- 12 products have been fully funded, representing 36 batch samples (that's three unique production batches per product) and 72 total chemical panels (two separate tests for each sample, BPA/BPS/BPF and phthalates)

- 9 product results have been published, with 3 currently in progress

- One manufacturer has already kicked off an internal investigation as a result of our testing (more to say here soon).

- Product pages with published results tables can now calculate the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Tolerable Daily Intake Percentage (%TDI) for toddlers (assumed to be 14kg) and adults (70kg).

- Monthly Subscriptions are live. Funds are pooled and allocated to the leading unfunded product anytime the pool can get that product to its funding goal.

The goal is simple: make supply chains transparent enough that cleaner ones win. When consumers have real data, markets shift.

Browse funded tests, propose your own, or just follow along: https://laboratory.love

My go-to prompt finisher, which I have mapped to a hotkey due to frequent use, is "Before writing any code, first analyze the problem and requirements and identify any ambiguities, contradictions, or issues. Ask me to clarify any questions you have, and then we'll proceed to writing the code"