| From: | Duncan McNeill-Burton <dmcneill@************.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Overactive nanites ( was Re: Re: Magic and Technology |
| Date: | Tue, 11 Nov 1997 13:43:44 -0500 |
>on 04.11.97 landsquid@*******.COM wrote:
>
>l> SR 2058 tech is not as advanced as those therories and fictions
>l> require. Else wise, the game, the economy of SR's world, and and the
>l> natureof its plots andproblems, would be VERY different. One ofthe main
>l> pointsofall nano-fictionis : If it can self reproduce, its life.
>l> If its life, it can mutate. If it can mutate, we can not predict its
>l> behavior.
>
>Well, the big bad problem about nanites is gray goo: You have a single
>nanite programmed to reproduve itself out of whatever it can find. So
>after some time, the whole planet is transformed into nanites. Gray goo.
Reminds me of an article I saw in Discover ( IIRC ) about a project for
silicon based life. Small robots programmed to refine sand into its base
components, then build more robots, and build solar panels, with an ultimate
purpose of building huge solar arrays for powering the Earth. The idea
seemed rather improbable, but frightening at the same time as the panel area
and the robot population would grow geometrically...kinda Borg-esque...
Later-
Duncan McNeill-Burton
-Berek Thunderfist, Wolf Lord of the Blackmane Company
-Freelance Corporate Espionage Agent
-Tech Priest in Training
http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~dmcneill
"Your eyes shiver and you grit your teeth,
you've sold your soul, now cold blood's how you get relief."
-Ice T
