New weekly segment: Death by Tech!
Think the future is all flying cars and cyberspace? Well think again. The future, in addition to bringing a whole slew of useful technologies, carries with it exciting new ways to shuffle off this mortal coil. So in honor of these thrilling developments, this segment will cover a fun and unique way to die every week.
This week: Gray Goo
Smokey the Nanobot: Our first line of defense
What is it?
Gray goo is a scenario that hinges heavily on self-replicating nanobots. The idea is that somebody creates and releases nanobots with insufficient or weak parameters that fail to stop the nanobots from replicating out of control. The nanobots then start eating shit, and not just the shit they’re supposed to. All the shit. Buildings, trees, people. Everything that can be converted into more material. This produces the ubiquitous ‘gray goo’ which consumes the world and us along with it.
Likelihood?
Unclear. Most nanotech engineers think it’s pretty preposterous, and it would take a monumental human error to make it even likely, but that doesn’t rule it out. Several scientists have speculated that this scenario is not only possible, but likely and dangerous. Most of them are fringe wackos, but not all.
Pain factor?
Very high. Imagine being eaten alive by a predator. It takes big chunks out of your flesh, dismembering you piece by piece. Now imagine being eaten alive by a billion tiny predators that disassemble you piece by piece on a molecular level. I’m not sure exactly how horrible death would be, but I suspect it’s pretty incomparable.
There you have it! Your first ‘Death by Tech!’. Pretty soon you’ll be prepared to enter the world of the future with anxiety and paranoia, as well you should.
UPDATE: Someone with more resources and artistic skill than me out-funnied this post by making a movie on the same subject. Check it out.
I suppose it makes me a huge nerd, wanting that sign.