TECHNOLOGY> SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY> NANOTECHNOLOGY THEORY 10 hours, 68 million new nanobots have been created. As Tim and Moby mention in the movie, some people have worried about drawbacks to nanotechnology. One extreme vision-which physicists agree is almost certainly impossible-is the idea that nanobots could destroy the world. This scenario is called the grey goo problem. ~. Here's how it works: Scientists develop a nanobot that's programmed to replicate itself every six minutes. The first replicator produces two additional robots over the first minutes; those two new robots produce two new robots of their own over the next six minutes; and in just And they just keep multiplying. So much so that in fewer than 48 hours, the nanobots would outweigh the entire planet! Several hours after that, they would exceed the mass of the sun and all the planets combined. Moreover, they'd be too tough, small, and quick to stop. / 0 Despite thJ,sterrifying vision, scientists are confident that this could never really happen. Major update ~havebeen made in molecular manufacturing technology, and these have made the use of millions of "runaway replicators" inefficient and unnecessary. According to some theorists, the idea of nanobots going "rogue" and destroying all life on Earth is about as plausible as an airplane suddenly becoming conscious and starting to graze on the animals and people below. Plus, the planet is already filled with billions of tiny, self-replicating organisms-they're called bacteria, and they have lived (relatively) peacefully alongside humans throughout the history of mankind. 1999 C 2011 BrainPOP. Aft rights reserved. Visit us at http://www.brainpop.com