King Charles and the Grey Goo

If you’ve been in the UK over the past weekend you might have noticed you had a day off on Monday (or looked on enviously as other people had a day off).  The coronation of a new monarch in Charles the Third means a new era. One that the Monarch is especially keen does not end in an apocalypse powered by Nanotechnology. One where a tide of so-called grey goo eats everything.

Grey goo in this instance refers to self-replicating tiny little robots, called nanites. These robots as part of their programming would make more of themselves, typically by assembling new nanites out of materials either raw or recycled. In many ways this is identical to the way biological organisms such as fungi and microbes break down dead organic matter.

The important difference here is that these robots would be able to break down more complex and typically inorganic materials such as plastics and metals. The fear being that either through error or evolution, the machines might start to devour everything.  Replicating without restraint until the entire world consists of nothing but these machines that, given how tiny they are, would appear to our eyes to be nothing more than an endless sea of grey goo.

Nanotechnology – Unlocking Creation or a Grey Goo Nightmare?

The idea of nanotechnology has, like all really good ideas like spaceships, lasers and waffle makers been a staple of science fiction for a long time. And since most stories need something to go horribly wrong to advance the narrative the idea of nanites gone wrong was as inevitable as time-travelling robot assassins.

The term was coined in 1986 by the American engineer, Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation (1986).  King Charles later brought up his concerns with the technology in 2003 where he was, at the time largely dismissed as alarmist.  Yet ongoing scientific developments have lead to the creation of smaller and smaller computers that, while they could not be called nanites in any true capacity seem to be going that way.

Indeed, advancements in the past few years have brought about self-replicating molecules that, though originally artificially created, continue to make more of themselves.  The fear that these molecules could adapt as biological organisms do to potential new sources of material (as in, US) returns once again to lurk in the back of the mind whether that head has a crown on it or not.

Why Take the Risk Said No True Mad Scientist Ever

 So given the potential risk of ending all life on earth in a tasteless gloopy soup, why are scientists pushing research into this field at all?  Well the reality is that such tiny little robots could, if realized have immense world changing potential.

Consider tiny little machines that could act as microscopic surgeons, attacking cancers and other ailments without the risks of traditional invasive surgery.  Or perhaps machines that recycle waste plastic or metal into reusable material cheaply and at little cost.  Swarms of nanites in the oceans cleaning up pollution like the great pacific garden patch to name but three potential gains.

But will the potential risk outweigh the gain?  Only time will tell, and history is filled with examples of new technologies and science being used for good and bad purposes.  In the meantime as with all scientific fields it doesn’t hurt to get a bit of an education in the field. Perhaps a course of your own in Nanotechnology is called for today?

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If you’ve been in the UK over the past weekend you might have noticed you had a day off on Monday (or looked on enviously as other people had a day off).  The coronation of a new monarch in Charles the Third means a new era. One that the Monarch is especially keen does not

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