Drexler Clarifies Grey Goo Scenario

b00le writes "The BBC says that the scientist many regard as the father of nanotechnology has backed away from his famous claim that runaway nanomachines could turn the planet into 'grey goo'. Eric Drexler now says nanomachines that self-replicate exponentially are unlikely ever to enter widespread use. So that's all right, then, but he also said 'tiny machines would need close control' - which not everyone would agree with. I always imagined some kind of emergent behaviour would, er, emerge." Bill Joy is still suitably pessimistic.

Comments

Re:Please ...

[kfg]

. . .don't let writer Stephen King get a hold of this post!

I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. I just heard a report that Stephen King is dead. Truly an American icon.

I wonder if that means he's going to get a new logo now.

KFG

Prince Charles?

[AviLazar]

Prince Charles, too, has voiced his concerns about the potential risks of nanotechnology. Like anyone gives a rats a$$ about what Prince Charles thinks, especially with regards to the scientific community... See, things like this can ruin a perfectly good article. The amount of credibility this article had, in my mind, went from a good decent amount to almost ZERO. Can we give an Off-TOpic mod to the article for including Prince Charles.