This article is about the doomsday scenario. For the video game, see Grey Goo.
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Gray goo (also spelled as grey goo) is a hypothetical global catastrophic scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating machines consume all biomass (and perhaps also everything else) on Earth while building many more of themselves,[1][2] a scenario that has been called ecophagy(the literal consumption of the ecosystem).[3] The original idea assumed machines were designed to have this capability, while popularizations have assumed that machines might somehow gain this capability by accident.
Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally described by mathematician John von Neumann, and are sometimes referred to as von Neumann machines or clanking replicators.
The term gray goo was coined by nanotechnology pioneer K. Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation.[4] In 2004, he stated "I wish I had never used the term 'gray goo'."[5]Engines of Creation mentions "gray goo" as a thought experiment in two paragraphs and a note, while the popularized idea of gray goo was first publicized in a mass-circulation magazine, Omni, in November 1986.[6]
^"Grey Goo is a Small Issue". Center for Responsible Nanotechnology. 2003-12-14. Archived from the original on 2014-08-29. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
^"Nanotechnology pioneer slays "grey goo" myths". Nanotechnology. Institute of Physics. 2006-07-06. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
^Freitas Jr., Robert A. (April 2000). "Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations". Retrieved 28 December 2009.
^Joseph, Lawrence E. (2007). Apocalypse 2012. New York: Broadway. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7679-2448-1.
^Giles, Jim (2004). "Nanotech takes small step towards burying 'grey goo'". Nature. 429 (6992): 591. Bibcode:2004Natur.429..591G. doi:10.1038/429591b. PMID 15190320.
^Nanotechnology: Molecular Machines that Mimic Life, OMNI, Vol. 9 No. 6, November 1986, p. 56ff.
Graygoo (also spelled as grey goo) is a hypothetical global catastrophic scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating...
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Bibcode:2013Senso..13.5117N. doi:10.3390/s130405117. PMC 3673129. PMID 23598500. Gray KM, Garey JR (August 2001). "The evolution of bacterial LuxI and LuxR quorum...
and the fear that they may self replicate ad infinitum in a so-called graygoo scenario, first imagined by K. Eric Drexler. For the EEA the challenge...
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