I do Not Like the Idea of Nanomachines Being Able to Self Replicate
“Now they don’t even have to be built; some nanomachines can build themselves, according to an upcoming study.” ~ Discovery News
Yeah, about that . . .
Generally I would link an article like this on I Wish I Was a Scientist but the second paragraph (as seen above) has got my spider-senses tingling. Most of the time I am quite fascinated by nanotechnology and the things that are being accomplished with it, but something about the thought of little self-replicating machines kind of freaks me out. And what is worth is thinking about if they manage to get swarm mind intelligence like in Michael Crichton’s “Prey.”
That whole self replicating thing . . . I don’t know, I kind of like my machines still relying on humans saying when it is okay to be making more machines. Reminds me a bit too much of these guys:
That’s right, I referenced Stargate SG-1 in this post. 15 nerdiness points for Lord!
Also, 10 conceitedness points for referring to myself in the third person.
Self-replication and control are not mutually exclusive. You could tell the nanomachines to double five times then stop.
However, it’s possible that some terrorist group may try to destroy the world by telling their nanomachines to never stop replicating themselves. However, I think that enough people may have good intentions for their nanomachines that there would be more nanomachines on the side of good than evil. Of course, the fallout from constant nanomachine battles wouldn’t be pleasant (as in Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, where the air becomes unbreathable whenever such a battle occurs).
Anyway, my point is that we will have a blue goo to protect us from the ‘grey goo’ scenario.
I doubt we’re at the stage of this being a problem, that nanobots could replicate at a destructive level outside laboratory control. Hopefully, if we ever do get such a machine, we will be able to devise a chemical to ‘kill’ the ‘bots, if anything else build another nanite (preferably one that wouldn’t similarly self-replicate uncontrollably) to destroy the offenders