Van Newmann Machine = Self replicating constrctor

Some people think that self replicators will be built on the Nano Scale. This gave rise to the Grey Goo Scenario.

Grey goo has several 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:

* Red Goo is goo unleashed intentionally by 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.
* Golden Goo is the backfiring of a get-rich-quick scheme to assemble gold or other economically valuable substance. The details are left to the imagination.
* 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 humanity. It replicates relatively slowly, but will nevertheless fill any amount of space given enough time. Some people think that allowing the entire Galaxy to get filled with Pink Goo would be the ultimate crime, to be stopped at any cost.
* Green Goo is goo deliberately released, for example by ecoterrorists, 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.

Re: Van Newmann Machine = Self replicating constrctor


Probably depends on what it is originally designed for.



I usually picture self replicators as something with a purpose beyond simply self replicating. If they only want to replicate, then growth would be throttled by available resources, including some form of energy. If they are programmed to seek resources as well as replicate, then growth would be throttled by ability to seek. If ability to seek was very good, then growth would be throttled by functional lifespan and energy resources.

Machines fueled by solar power and the ability to suspend themselves when away from light could live a very long time, floating through the cold and dark of space, and reactivating when they happend to float near a star. Little tiny bursts of ions and brief moments of activation to scan the starscape could improve their chances of wandering into a new solar system with lots of light and lots of asteroids for raw materials.



Perhaps they can. Easily.



How versatile can we make them? How versatile do we want them to be?



Predictive calculation of this type may not be necessary if periodic scans and alterations in trajectory are made. Only in the last few years of travel, once inside a solar system rich in stray starlight might abrupt acceleration and deceleration changes be necessary. Also, propulsion systems might be augmented with some type of stored energy, chemical or atomic (as yet unknown to us).



Maybe they never go to Mercury. Maybe when they aproach any gravity well, then never plan to leave it. Maybe they consume the source of the gravity and make more replicators, or if they are sophisticated enough, they make structures to assist them to find more raw materials.

Lots of *ifs* Lots of fun