It is a term used in nanotechnology
It refers to a disaster scenario in nanotechnology applications.
What is nanotechnology
We can say it is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and
supramolecular scale for industrial purposes,
In 1959, American physicist and Nobel laureate
Richard Feynman introduced the concept
of nanotechnology. Throughout the 1990s, significant advances in
nanotechnology, such as carbon nanotubes, were made. Nanomaterials were being
used in consumer products even in the early 2000s. Although modern
nanotechnology is relatively new, nanometer-scale materials have been used for
centuries.
Now lets come to Grey goo
Kim Eric Drexler In his book "Engines of Creation,"
proposed an intriguing possibility for nanotechnology. Drexler imagined a
future in which tiny machines known as assemblers could construct materials
molecule by molecule. Using billions of these assemblers, you could create
almost any material we can think of. The role of assemblers would be to put the
molecules together precisely and produce what we want.
How do you manage to hire so many assemblers? You start by making
a few in the lab. The assemblers are then instructed to construct other
assemblers. In turn, these new assemblers will start building more machines.
With each generation, the manufacturing rate becomes exponential, doubling.
But what if the production spirals out of control? This would
result in the grey goo scenario. Assemblers would start converting all organic
matter into more assemblers, consuming everything. The Earth would be reduced
to a lifeless mass of nanomachines.
What is positive about grey goo
The potential of
self-replicating machines. It can be used to solve energy-related problems like
producing low-cost solar power, cure fatal diseases like cancer by boosting the human
immune system, completely clean up the environment, and even allow for the
restoration of extinct species.
Because the technology's basic building blocks are at the
molecular level, the cheapness and abundance of materials would make it simple
and inexpensive to create any product, even cheap pocket supercomputers.
Many scientists believe
that building assemblers will be impossible for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, due to the
enormous complexity involved, creating such nanobots is difficult, and given
current technological limitations, they are unlikely to be easily
created. (Drexler himself has stated that such self-replicating machines would
be unlikely to be built due to manufacturing inefficiency.)
Though Grey goo is not of concern yet, those working in nanotechnology should be aware of this.
