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A term coined by Robert Freitas, that means, literally, the consuming of an ecosystem. Freitas used the term to describe a frightful scenario involving nanotechnology gone awry. In this situation (called the grey goo scenario) out-of-control self-replicating nanorobots consume entire ecosystems, resulting in global ecophagy. However, the word ecophagy is now applied more generally in reference to any event--nuclear war, the spread of monoculture, massive species extinctions--that might fundamentally alter the planet. Scholars suggest that these events might result in ecocide in that they would undermine the capacity of the earth to repair itself. Others suggest that more mundane and less spectacular events--the unrelenting growth of the human population, the steady tranformation of the natural world by human beings--will eventually result in a planet that is considerably less vibrant, and one that is, apart from humans, essentially lifeless. These people believe that the current human trajectory puts us on a path that will eventually lead to ecophagy. Robert A. Freitas Jr. ...
In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a loose unit. ...
Grey goo, or gray goo, is a term first used by molecular nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation. ...
Ecocide is the killing of an ecosystem, which includes consuming it and using it to feed some other process or system - ecophagy. ...
For a more lighthearted take on an otherwise depressing subject one may wish to check out the long-standing USENET group called "alt.pave-the-earth." This group wryly proposed paving the entire Earth, which would, of course, be a form of intentional ecophagy. Usenet is a distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ...
Earth, also known as Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ...
The paper in which Freitas coined the term was entitled Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations and was published in April 2000. In it he wrote: April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ...
This article is about the year 2000. ...
Perhaps the earliest-recognized and best-known danger of molecular nanotechnology is the risk that self-replicating nanorobots capable of functioning autonomously in the natural environment could quickly convert that natural environment (e.g., "biomass") into replicas of themselves (e.g., "nanomass") on a global basis, a scenario usually referred to as the "grey goo problem" but perhaps more properly termed "global ecophagy". Grey goo, or gray goo, is a term first used by molecular nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation. ...
Quotes
- Nanotechnologists have similarly recognized that out-of-control nanobots could destroy the biosphere; a first quantitative study of this possibility of "global ecophagy"; by Robert Freitas was recently published in response to the article I wrote on this subject in Wired in April [2000]. His study is quite troubling, showing the clear dangers we face from unrestricted nanotechnology and the extreme difficulty and enormous scale required of any "defense".
- As far as I know, this article by Mr. Freitas was the first detailed, published analysis of the so-called "gray goo" problem.
- They call it "global ecophagy". That's "eating the Earth" to you and me. Rumour has it that this is what replicating nanostructures might do, and according to one estimate, they could gobble up the entire planet in about three hours flat.
William N. Joy (born 1954), commonly known as Bill Joy, co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Vinod Khosla, Scott McNealy and Andy Bechtolsheim, and served as chief scientist at the company until 2003. ...
William N. Joy (born 1954), commonly known as Bill Joy, co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Vinod Khosla, Scott McNealy and Andy Bechtolsheim, and served as chief scientist at the company until 2003. ...
Philip Ball (born 1962) is an English science writer. ...
See also Ecocide is the killing of an ecosystem, which includes consuming it and using it to feed some other process or system - ecophagy. ...
Grey goo, or gray goo, is a term first used by molecular nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation. ...
A molecular assembler is a molecular machine capable of assembling other molecules given instructions, energy, and a supply of smaller building block molecules to work from. ...
External links - Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations
- critical review of the Freitas article in biosafety group
- "Intentional Ecophagy" references
Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. ...
References - Bill Joy, Genetics, nanotechnology, robotics pose danger to society, The Sunday Patriot-News Harrisburg, 23 July 2000.
- Philip Ball, The Robot Within, New Scientist, 15 March 2003.)
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