  In this paper, we discuss two topics: first, we show how to convert
1+1-topological quantum field theories valued in symmetric bimonoidal
categories into stable homotopical data, using a machinery by Elmendorf and
Mandell. Then, we discuss, in this framework, two recent results (independent
of each other) on refinements of Khovanov homology: our refinement into a
module over the connective k-theory spectrum and a stronger result by Lipshitz
and Sarkar refining Khovanov homology into a stable homotopy type.
