If it is possible via node filtering mechanism, it would be nice.
It may be a little load on database, but may serve some other purposes in the future as well. So instead of you deciding that you have checked out the nodes of the 'current load', you can check out per node/(parent node) base. That's too much for asking, but may serve useful purposes for many of us , regular users.
BTW, I find 'Recently active threads' very useful.