Scientists create self-replicating robots.

[tnf]

Pretty simple at this point, but impressive nonetheless.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7815160/


Anyone ever done much reading about the concern that one day self-replicating nanomachines may take over the world - our own technology ultimately destroying us?

Looks like they are getting closer to the first step - the self-replication.

[SoM]

skynet here it comes

[tnf]

Luckily Arnold is already in a position of power. Will be easier for him to destroy it this time.

[lars63]

Thats amazing, those blocks don't look like they could do anything. The video was cool after reading about it I had to watch. Good post!!

[Deji]

It's the replicators, call Richard Dean Anderson before it's too late!

[Guest]

Hey once robots reach the same manual dexterity as a human body it's only a matter of them having the ability to harvest the raw material and process it properly to create new versions of themselves. What they show there might someday be useful in a microscopic level.

[Fender]

I HATE how msnbc.com won't let you view the videos in browsers other than IE, even if they have the capability to do so.

[andyman]

Hey once robots reach the same manual dexterity as a human body it's only a matter of them having the ability to harvest the raw material and process it properly to create new versions of themselves. What they show there might someday be useful in a microscopic level.

and us programming them how to do it

[tnf]

Did you read what I mentioned in the first post in this thread about self-replicating nanorobots?

And there has already been considerable discussion about the potential future uses of nanorobots for things like cellular level repairs in medicine...

[Guest]

Did you read what I mentioned in the first post in this thread about self-replicating nanorobots?

And there has already been considerable discussion about the potential future uses of nanorobots for things like cellular level repairs in medicine...

Yeah I know but realisticly nothing that large will ever have any practicality in terms of actualy functioning on a microscopic level. All that really serves is to illustrate how it might function at a smaller scale but the mechanics would have to be completely different likely biological.

[Guest]

Hey once robots reach the same manual dexterity as a human body it's only a matter of them having the ability to harvest the raw material and process it properly to create new versions of themselves. What they show there might someday be useful in a microscopic level.

and us programming them how to do it

yeah that's what I meant by ability.

[tnf]

I don't see what you are disagreeing with here...I mentioned that scientists have overcome an initial step - self-replication. Obviously nanomachines would require different techniques, but technology generally moves from large, simple models to smaller, more advanced and precise ones that build off of the less advanced techniques from before.
I'm not going to go down this road, though. You need to read posts more closely, make sure you understand them, then disagree with them.

I just don't get it...I say nanorobots and medicine...and you say "nothing large will ever have any practicality.." Do you know what the term nanorobot means?

[tnf]

And maybe someday we can look towards informatics and ideas that maybe, since life is basically determined by sequences of four simple nucleotides, 'mutation' may be possible on an artificial scale...and might one of these 'mutations' one day render a nanomachine capable of unhindered self-replication? Not something we can answer now, and obviously not something we need to worry about at the present time...but it is an interesting topic as the lines between living systems and artificial systems become blurrier.

[Denz]

oH oh,,,,, Rise of the Machines.

[Guest]

[quote="tnf"]I don't see what you are disagreeing with here...quote]

That's because I wasn't.

[MaCaBr3]

skynet here it comes

My Internet Provider is Skynet

[^misantropia^]

I HATE how msnbc.com won't let you view the videos in browsers other than IE, even if they have the capability to do so.

http://www.mae.cornell.edu/ccsl/researc ... x4ht4a.mpg. Take a look at this this thread, there're probably a few torrents floating around.

[^misantropia^]

done much reading about the concern that one day self-replicating nanomachines may take over the world - our own technology ultimately destroying us?

Read many a SF novel about it

More advanced self-replication will be possible in the near future - say ten or fifteen years - but on a somewhat larger-than-nano scale, I wager. I'm betting on artifically constructed complex molecules, not unlike DNA, since nano is dangerously close to the quantum realm.

[R00k]

And maybe someday we can look towards informatics and ideas that maybe, since life is basically determined by sequences of four simple nucleotides, 'mutation' may be possible on an artificial scale...and might one of these 'mutations' one day render a nanomachine capable of unhindered self-replication? Not something we can answer now, and obviously not something we need to worry about at the present time...but it is an interesting topic as the lines between living systems and artificial systems become blurrier.

Are you suggesting the possibility of nucleotide mutation in artificial materials like plastic and steel? Because I thought DNA/RNA and nucleotides only existed in living organisms?

Or are you maybe suggesting some sort of organism that is planted in or around the machine, and somehow mutating to form some kind of relationship with the material?


Or, are you maybe just talking about nanorobots building new, slightly different nanorobots, and calling that a 'mutation'?

[tnf]

Are you suggesting the possibility of nucleotide mutation in artificial materials like plastic and steel? Because I thought DNA/RNA and nucleotides only existed in living organisms?

Or are you maybe suggesting some sort of organism that is planted in or around the machine, and somehow mutating to form some kind of relationship with the material?


Or, are you maybe just talking about nanorobots building new, slightly different nanorobots, and calling that a 'mutation'?

I'm speaking of mutations in whatever 'informational system' that is used in possible nanorobots. This mutation might be similar to the corruption of computer code by a virus...

Now, the idea of nanomachines that use something like DNA as their 'blueprint' is intriguing.

But what I am speaking of is the last thing you mention.

Here's a hypothetical -

Let's say someday we develop a nanorobot that can construct itself out of simple, common precursor molecules - maybe do something fancy like carbon fixation and use carbon atoms to make more of itself...I dunno...that isn't the key issue right now. But let's say that this system has a built-in failsafe in that its replication is controlled by some feedback loop - perhaps a sort of molecular timer inside it that only allows it to replicate itself a given number of times then stops. Now, lets say that this system fails so the feedback loop doesn't result in the cessation of replication and we end up with uncontrolled spread of this nanomachine since it is constructing itself out of simple, readily available precursor molecules (i.e. things like CO2...)

Again, I know that the whole scenario is pretty far out there right now, but the potential implications are still interesting.

[Massive Quasars]

And maybe someday we can look towards informatics and ideas that maybe, since life is basically determined by sequences of four simple nucleotides, 'mutation' may be possible on an artificial scale...and might one of these 'mutations' one day render a nanomachine capable of unhindered self-replication? Not something we can answer now, and obviously not something we need to worry about at the present time...but it is an interesting topic as the lines between living systems and artificial systems become blurrier.

Hey tnf. Love your threads, sorry you have to deal with the bullshit weed-induced posts of Kracus.

Self-replicating nanobots going out of control? Grey goo covering the planet? Both unlikely, nanobots probably won't have it quite that easy.

Nanotechnology as Drexler envisioned it will be a huge development. Of course, I don't necessarily trust the purported timelines for when this technology will be realized.

[GONNAFISTYA]

I want my flying car. They said I'd have a flying car by now. They lied. Those bastards.

[GONNAFISTYA]

Yeah I know but realisticly nothing that large will ever have any practicality in terms of actualy functioning on a microscopic level.

I don't know...

I think millions of robots the size they displayed in the demonstration could probably replicate and work comfortably in that cavernously empty head of yours.

[tnf]

And maybe someday we can look towards informatics and ideas that maybe, since life is basically determined by sequences of four simple nucleotides, 'mutation' may be possible on an artificial scale...and might one of these 'mutations' one day render a nanomachine capable of unhindered self-replication? Not something we can answer now, and obviously not something we need to worry about at the present time...but it is an interesting topic as the lines between living systems and artificial systems become blurrier.

Hey tnf. Love your threads, sorry you have to deal with the bullshit weed-induced posts of Kracus.

Self-replicating nanobots going out of control? Grey goo covering the planet? Both unlikely, nanobots probably won't have it quite that easy.

Nanotechnology as Drexler envisioned it will be a huge development. Of course, I don't necessarily trust the purported timelines for when this technology will be realized.

Even Martin Rees has voiced concern about the future of nanomachines. To quote him - he is worried about nanomachines that may one day be "designed to be more omnivorous than any bacterium, perhaps even able to consume all organic materials. Metabolizing efficiently, and utilizing solar energy, they could then proliferate uncontrollably, and not reach the Malthusian limit (look that up if you don't know what it is people) until they had consumed all life."

Read the latest edition of "Skeptic" - specifically the article "Catastrophe" - an exerpt out of the first chapter of Richard Prosser's book (Catastrophe) - he discusses potential both natural and man-made possible problems. Nanobots are one of them.

[Massive Quasars]

Even Martin Rees has voiced concern about the future of nanomachines. To quote him - he is worried about nanomachines that may one day be "designed to be more omnivorous than any bacterium, perhaps even able to consume all organic materials. Metabolizing efficiently, and utilizing solar energy, they could then proliferate uncontrollably, and not reach the Malthusian limit (look that up if you don't know what it is people) until they had consumed all life."

Read the latest edition of "Skeptic" - specifically the article "Catastrophe" - an exerpt out of the first chapter of Richard Prosser's book (Catastrophe) - he discusses potential both natural and man-made possible problems. Nanobots are one of them.

Those are legitimate concerns, and yes I know who Thomas Malthus is. tnf, to what extent have you been following nanotechnology?

With great power comes great responsibility (excuse the cliche), some believe this responsibility in particular is too great for humans. They believe that sophisticated "Friendly" AI should be created (before nanotech) which can properly get a handle on true nanotech and usher us into a technological singularity (if possible). Others like Sun Microsystems' Bill Joy believe we should stop all nanotech R&D now, so that what we don't know can't hurt us. Then there are those who think that nanotech can be managed by humans and that sophisticated AI isn't required immediately. Opinions vary.

edit: The group linked to above is still quite fringe, among other things they believe Moore's law (in one form or another) will probably continue and speed up until it leads to a technological singularity.

edit2: Here's Drexler's Foresight Institute. Here's his 1986 book, Engines of Creation, available free online.