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'''''Grey goo''''', or '''''gray goo''''', is a term first used by molecular nanotechnology pioneer [[Eric Drexler]] in his book ''[[Engines of Creation]]''. The term refers to a hypothetical [[End of civilization|end-of-the-world]] event involving [[molecular nanotechnology]] in which out-of-control [[self replication|self-replicating]] robots consume all life on [[Earth]] while building more of themselves (a scenario known as [[ecophagy]]). It is usually used in a [[science fiction]]al context. In a worst-case scenario, all of the matter in the [[universe]] could be turned into goo (with "goo" meaning a large mass of replicating nanomachines lacking large-scale structure, which may or may not actually appear [[Goo|goo]]-like), killing the universe's residents. The disaster is posited to result from an accidental [[mutation]] in a self-replicating nanomachine used for other purposes, or possibly from a deliberate [[doomsday device]].

It is unclear whether the hypothetical molecular nanotechnology, if ever realized, would be capable of creating grey goo at all. Among other common refutations, theorists suggest that the very size of [[nanoparticles]] inhibits them from moving very quickly. While the biological matter that composes life releases significant amounts of [[energy]] when [[oxidisation|oxidised]], and other sources of energy such as sunlight are available, this energy might not be sufficient for the putative nanorobots to out-compete existing organic life that already uses those resources, especially considering how much energy nanorobots would use for locomotion. If the nanomachine was itself composed of organic molecules, then it might even find itself being preyed upon by preexisting bacteria and other natural life forms. One convenient analogy for the grey goo problem is to consider [[bacteria]] as the most perfect example of biological nanotechnology; as they have not reduced the world to grey goo in 6000 years of creation, it is unlikely that some artificial construct will manage to do so.

If nanorobots were built of [[inorganic]] compounds or made much use of elements that are not generally found in living matter, then they would need to use much of their metabolic output for fighting [[entropy]] as they purified (reduce sand to silicon, for instance) and synthesized the necessary building blocks. There would be little chemical energy available from inorganic matter such as rocks because, aside from a few exceptions ([[coal]], for example) it's mostly well-oxidized and sitting in a [[Free energy|free-energy]] minimum.

Because of these limitations, grey goo might only be possible in an environment which lacks indigenous life to compete with it for resources. However, some proponents of molecular nanotechnology argue that artificial nanomachines might be able to outcompete natural life because they could have [[irreducible complexity|irreducibly complex]] designs that life could not have developed via natural evolution.

Drexler has made a somewhat public effort to retract his gray goo hypothesis, in an effort to focus the debate on more realistic threats and misuses associated with knowledge-enabled nanoterrorism and other misuses.

In [[Britain]], the [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]] called upon the [[Royal Society]] to investigate the "enormous environmental and social risks" of nanotechnology in a planned report, leading to much delighted media commentary on grey goo. The Royal Society's report on nanoscience was released on [[29th July]] [[2004]].

Recently, [http://www.crnano.org/PR-IOP.htm new analysis] has shown that the danger of grey goo is far less likely than originally thought. However, other long-term [http://www.crnano.org/dangers.htm major risks]to society and the environment from nanotechnology have been identified.

==Precautions==

Assuming a molecular nanotechnological replicator were capable of causing a grey goo disaster, safety precautions might include programming them to stop reproducing after a certain number of generations (but see [[cancer]]), designing them to require a rare material that would be sprayed on the construction site before their release, or requiring constant direct control from an external computer. Another possibility is to encrypt the memory of the replicators in such a way that any changed copy is overwhelmingly likely to decrypt to nonfunctioning static.

==Other varieties==

Grey goo has several whimsical cousins, differentiated by their colors and raisons d'être. Most of these are not as commonly referred to as grey goo, however, and the definitions are informal:
* ''Golden Goo'' is the backfiring of a get-rich-quick scheme to assemble gold or other economically valuable substance.
* ''Black Goo'' is goo that has been designed to carry a plague and intentionally unleashed into a populated area.
* ''Red Goo'' is goo unleashed intentionally by [[terrorism|terrorists]], a doomsday weapon, or a private individual who wishes to commit [[suicide]] with a bang.
* ''Khaki Goo'' is goo intended by the military to wipe out somebody else's continent, planet, etc.
* ''Blue Goo'' is goo deliberately released in order to stop some other type of grey goo. It might well be the only solution to such a disaster, and would hopefully be better controlled than the original goo.
* ''Pink Goo'' is mankind. It replicates relatively slowly, but some people think it will nevertheless fill any amount of space given enough time. In the pink goo worldview the spread of humanity is a catastrophe and space exploration opens up the possibility of the entire galaxy or the universe getting filled up with Pink Goo - the ultimate crime, something to be stopped at any cost.
* ''Green Goo'' is goo deliberately released, for example by [[ecoterrorist]]s, in order to stop the spread of Pink Goo, either by sterilization or simply by digesting the pink goo. Some form of this, along with an antidote available to the selected few, has been suggested as a strategy for achieving [[zero population growth]]. The term originates from the science fiction classic, <cite>[[Soylent Green]]</cite>.

==Famous quotes==

* "We cannot afford certain types of accidents", [[Eric Drexler]], [[Engines of creation]], 1986
* "I wish I had never used the term 'grey goo' " Drexler, [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] [[10 June]] [[2004]]

==Fictional depictions==
{{spoiler}}
===In books===

[[Wil McCarthy]]'s science fiction novel ''[[Bloom (novel)|Bloom]]'' is set in a future in which a grey goo has overwhelmed the entire inner solar system, with the only remaining colonies of humans surviving in the asteroid belt and on Jupiter's moons.

[[Greg Bear]]'s novel ''[[Blood Music]]'' is a classic of the field, depicting a form of grey goo originally derived from human [[lymphocyte]]s.

[[Walter Jon Williams]]'s novel [[Aristoi_(novel)|Aristoi]] featured a future wherein Earth was consumed and destroyed by runaway nano, referred to as "mataglap", from an [[Indonesian]] word meaning "dilated eye" (referring to the look on one's face when they go berserk).

In the [[Adam Warren]]-penned ''[[Dirty Pair]]'' [[manga]], mankind has ventured out into the stars as a result of the '''Nodachi Nanoclysm''' (often referred to as just "the Nanoclysm"), where nano absorbed the majority of the solar system before gaining sentience and annihilating itself to save its creators. As a result, with rare exceptions, nanotechnology is universally banned in human civilizations.

In [[Ken Macleod]]'s ''[[The Stone Canal]]'', blue goo is a generic anti-nanomachine antiseptic. In [[Iain M. Banks]]'s "Culture" series, specifically in ''[[Excession]]'', the major possible threat to the Culture is considered to be something called an "Aggressive Hegemonizing Swarm".

In [[Michael Crichton]]'s ''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'', a company in Nevada accidentally/purposely releases self-assembling nanobots into the desert, which quickly replicate and evolve and threaten all the human protagonists.

In [[Stanisław Lem]]'s ''Ciemnosc i Plesn'' (Darkness and Mildew), 1959, spores of an engineered lifeform that can use nuclear energy escape the lab. In order for the spores to activate, they need to be in the dark and near a rare species of mildew (hence the title), after which they grow exponentially.

===In television===

In the science fiction television series ''[[Lexx]]'', self-replicating robot arms called [[Mantrid]] drones wind up consuming the mass of an entire universe. Mantrid drones were macroscopic machines, but they apparently used nanotechnology as part of their means of manufacturing new parts for themselves.

''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' also fought a form of macroscopic self replicating machines. This enemy was known as the ''[[Replicators]]''. The basic building block of the Replicators is a 1cm trapezoidal block containing its own power supply and computing/memory capacity. However, these blocks could be organized into units as small as 6 legged scout bot to [[FTL]] capable star ships of unlimited size. Initially the creation of a synthetic life, due to their immense computing power and [[hive mind]], they quickly became sentient and began executing their agenda of converting the entire universe into replicators. Initially macroscopic, more advanced nanoscopic versions appeared that could mimic humanoid lifeforms.

An episode of [[Cartoon Network]]'s series [[Justice League Unlimited]] entitled "Heart of Darkness" pitted the comic book heroes of the [[DC comics]] universe against a nanotechnological [[weapon of mass destruction]] created by an ancient alien race designed to defeat its enemy by literally devouring the planet from under them. It is stopped when [[The Atom]] is sent inside the central mass to examine and attack it at the source.

One fanciful depiction of a grey goo crisis was in an episode of the ''[[Gargoyles (animated series)|Gargoyles]]'' [[animated series]] where the protagonists face an advanced form of nanotechnology. They eventually manage to convince it to stop its spread.

Another cartoon version of "grey goo" is The Germ, an episode of ''[[GI Joe]]'' written by Roger Slifer. Psyudomondo U Bacteria, better known as Bacteria X, is stolen by the Crimson Guard, when they double cross Destro. In usual Cobra form, the Crimson Guard drops the Germ and a growth formula that Destro was working on, and it forms a giant blob that's eating everything in its path. The Joes throw everything at it from missiles to insecticide, and even send Airtight into the blob with explosive antibiotics. The blob separates in two after the Joes' attack, and one blob is weakened after going through an apple orchard. The Joes figure it's because of the poison in the apple seeds, so they bombard the blob with apples, which destroys the Germ.
[http://www.joeheadquarters.com/eps1x.shtml synopsis]

Organic-based grey goo makes an appearance in the TV series ''[[Lost (TV series)|Lost]]''.

===In other media===

[[Sierra Entertainment]]'s computer game ''[[Outpost 2]]'' was a [[Civilization]]-like game which theme was based on a space colony where a lab exploded, creating a plague that consumed everything in its path, called 'the Blight'.

In [[Ion Storm]]'s futuristic PC and XBox game [[Deus Ex]] 2: Invisible War's intro, a [[nanotechnology]] bomb is detonated by a terrorist cell to destroy the city of Chicago. The result of the bomb being detonated is a nanotech wave of [[Grey goo]] that consumes and destroys the entire city.

==See also==
* [[Bootstrapped-Brain]]
* [[clanking replicator]]
* [[technology assessment]]
* [[Ice-9 Type Transition]]

==Bibliography==

* [[Greg Bear]], <cite>[[Blood Music]]</cite>, the classic sci-fi novel about ecophagy. Arguably it is a Green or Golden Goo-type.
* [[Kurt Vonnegut]], <cite>[[Cat's Cradle]]</cite>, centering around a grey-goo-like [[polywater]], "'''ice-nine'''," converting every drop of [[water]] on [[Earth]] into a [[solid]]. It should be noted that Vonnegut's ice-nine is an alternate form of water, not a life form or nanomachine.

==External links==
* [http://www.nanotechweb.org/articles/society/3/6/1/1 Drexler dubs "grey goo" fears obsolete]
* [http://www.iop.org/EJ/news/-topic=763/journal/0957-4484 Nanotechnology pioneer slays "grey goo" myths]
* [http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm Online edition of the Royal Society's report ''Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties'']
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3788673.stm Nanotech guru turns back on 'goo']
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4538547.stm U.S. robot builds copies of itself]
* [http://www.exitmundi.nl/graygoo.htm Exit Mundi article on the grey goo doomsday theory]
* [http://www.greygoo.org/ The First Church of the Grey Goo - humorous new apocalyptic religion]

[[Category:Nanotechnology]]
[[Category:Artificial life]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters]]

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