Grey Goo Explosion

A Grey Goo Explosion is a doomsday event that involves a runaway molecular nanotechnology (in which self-replicating robots consume all matter on Earth while building more of themselves).

References

(Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo Retrieved:2014-11-1.
- Grey goo' (also spelled gray goo) is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all matter on Earth while building more of themselves, a scenario that has been called ecophagy ("eating the environment"). The original idea assumed machines were designed to have this capability, while popularizations have assumed that machines might somehow gain this capability by accident. Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally described by mathematician John von Neumann, and are sometimes referred to as von Neumann machines. The term gray goo was coined by nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation. In 2004 he stated, "I wish I had never used the term 'gray goo'." Engines of Creation mentions "gray goo" in two paragraphs and a note, while the popularized idea of gray goo was first publicized in a mass-circulation magazine, Omni, in November 1986. ^[1]