Nanotech: The shape of things to come

February 29, 2008

IN THE late 1980s, the book Engines of Creation by Eric Drexler caused quite a stir. It described a coming revolution in nanotechnology – the design of machines and structures on the scale of billionths of a metre. Drexler predicted that within a few decades we would have swarms of molecular devices that could build virtually anything. He also warned that self-replicating machines might get out of control, overrunning the world with an all-consuming “grey goo”. ((Premium) New Scientist)