June 24, 2010

The Age of Nanobotic Goo could make all of our pollution and oil slick problems go away through *bioremediation*. Yet many other kinds of goo might be possible - even the Scifi horror imagined in Michael Crichton's Prey. In short, rather than ushering in the Promised Age of universal health and wealth, the planet may just end up being covered in grey goo.

Bwa, ha, ha HA! Not to worry: These swarms can be controlled! How about some shape shifting monkey swarm creamer for the coffee adjacent to your computer?

posted by Dan Folkus 14 years ago
  • I actually prefer half-and-half, Oh, yeah. I can totally see the earth covered in grey goo thanks to greedy asshole corporations--assuming they don't get it covered in black goo first. As they seem to be working hard at it now. Everyone keeps predicting a *new age* with nanotechnology. Not holding my breath on this one.
  • Anybody who has ever grown zucchini in their vegetable garden knows how easily things can cross the line between beneficial/useful/yummy and out-of-control/overwhelming/AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH.
  • Wait...Would spermatozoa count as nanobotic goo?
  • A micrometer is 1000 nanometers. The head of a sperm cell measures 5000 nanometers long. Some have said that 100 nanometers should be the arbitrary cutoff for what qualifies as nano, but the same article quotes Dr Annette McCarthy of the FDA a saying that the administration has thus far avoided being specific about what nanotechnology is. “We do not have a definition about what nano size is. We tend to talk more in terms of impact,” said McCarthy. Let's run with that. Because sperms have a huge impact for their size they DO qualify as nano. But are they nanoBOTIC? Well, are they automated for a task? Well...yes they are. So I think spermatozoa qualify.
  • Monkeyfilter: Things you never wanted to know about nanobotic goo!