From: Mike & Donna Deering (deering9@mchsi.com)
Date: Tue Apr 09 2002 - 08:16:05 MDT
Self reproducing nanites will destroy the world.
The argument comparing nanotechnology with computer viruses is fallacious
for two reasons:
1.) computer viruses break out and do a little damage, you look
at the virus code and figure out a fix. Next day you do it all over again.
Even after the virus has struck you have plenty of capacity left to fix the
problem.
2.) computer viruses break out and do a little damage but many
systems are beyond the reach of the virus. Those systems affected are shut
down and good software reloaded.
The speed and total destructive power of a self reproducing nanite make
these strategies moot. A self reproducing nanite will eat the entire planet
(Earth) in 48 hours. There are no parts of the system outside the affected
area. There is no capacity left to fix the problem. There are no second
chances. One Failure.
By the way, is anyone aware of any free software for nano design. I've been
using Rasmol for about a year now and find it very good from a display
viewpoint but not so good for editing. I tried to run Crystal Sketchpad but
either it doesn't run under WME or I did something wrong. Please don't tell
me about Chime, I'm not giving up my IE.
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