Nanotechnology

Catastrophe ScenariosVedrana Novosel, Viraj Sapre, Szu-Chia

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DefinitionWe are drawing from science fiction,

research, and speculative articles to find scenarios of world destruction caused by nanotechnology.

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ExampleK. Eric Drexler’s coined the term “gray

goo” in his book “Engines of Creation,” referring to the scenario that nanotechnology is used to build self-replicating machines which consume all of Earth’s matter

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Notable Aspects• Biohazards• Sentience of Nanobots• Self-Replicating Nanobots• Human Misuse of Nanotechnology• Environmental Damage

Note: there are some overlaps between these scenarios

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Biohazards• Plague

– “Queen City Jazz” chronicles life after a destructive nanotech plague

– In the “Plague Year” series, nanotech supposed to cure cancer by dismantling specific cells, dismantles everything

• Exposure to nanotech particles– Researchers speculated that exposure

could cause cardiovascular disease at the 1st Nobel Forum Mini-Symposium on Nanotoxicology

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Sentience of Nanobots• Ability and desire to destroy humanity

– In “Prey ”, nanobots exhibit intelligent, predatory behavior, attacking and killing animals by:

• tracing tracks• suffocating their prey by blocking the bronchial tubes• tripping their prey by making the ground slippery

• Mind control – In “Prey”, nanobots can devour and take over

their hosts, initially affecting their decisions and then controlling them, while allowing them to travel and contaminate others

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Self-Replicating Nanobots• “Gray goo”: out-of-control self-

replicating robots consume all matter on Earth while building more of themselves– First stated by Eric Drexler in context of

nanoscale assemblers

• Nanotech plants• Could out-compete real plants, crowding the

biosphere with an inedible foliage

• Omnivorous nanotech bacteria • Could out-compete real bacteria and reduce

the biosphere to dust in a matter of days 7

Human Misuse of Nanotechnology• Nanotech weapons

– Nanomite warheads are used in “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”

– Could lead to a destructive arms race as described in a paper from the Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology

• Economic and social disruption– The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology

warns of artificially inflated prices and an abundance of products due to molecular manufacturing

– Opportunities for world dictatorship mentioned at the Oxford Catastrophic Risks Conference 8

Environmental Damage• Nanomaterials are not inert

– EPA study found that nanoparticles are showing up in the livers of research animals, can seep into living cells, and perhaps piggyback on bacteria to enter the food chain

• Nano particles could damage the cells of living organisms– Causes ecosystem and biosphere destruction

• Pollution– “Nano Litterbugs” article warns of nanoscale

pollution that we wouldn’t be able to get rid of

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Why Is This Important?

• Scenarios from fiction hint at society’s views about nanotech

• Help to determine how science should proceed and about what we should be cautious

• Inform decisions about regulations and policies

• Speculate on how we can protect ourselves and our planet

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Further Research• Feasibility of these scenarios (fact vs.

fiction)• Technical details• How far into the future?

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References1. http://reason.com/archives/2008/07/22/the-end-of-

humanity-nukes-nano/12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo3. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html4. http://www.crnano.org/dangers.htm5. http://ivanhong.com/mmd08/?p=116. http://www.futureforall.org/nanotechnology/risks.htm7. http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=2570.php8. http://www.eurekalert.org/context.php?

context=nano&show=essays&essaydate=11029. http://media-artandtext.com/?p=269

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References Continued

10.http://www.globalization101.org/news1/Science_Fiction_Becomes_Reality

11.http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Nanotech/nosmallmatter.html

12.www.smalltimes.com13.www.wikipedia.org/Grey Goo14.http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-gray-goo-problem 15.Engines of creation – Eric Drexler16.http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-

nanotechnology-revolution17.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_%28novel%29

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