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Curiosity: Nanobots, Good or Goo?
Nanobots could save the world or destroy it depending on your curiosity
What if it’s up to you whether nanobots save the world or turn it into gray goo? Get curious about the tiniest tech in the world with this Curiosity-Based Thinking about nanobots based on the question from The Book of What If…?, “What if Nanobots Turned the World into a Glob of Gray Goo?”
What if Nanobots Turned the World into a Glob of Gray Goo?
Whether they’re killing cancer or cleaning up pollution, nanobots are effective because of how they work together. Nanobots aren’t lone wolves; they’re a swarm. But just like any powerful technology, whether they’re used for good or bad is, ultimately, up to humans to determine.
Just as a swarm of nanobots could be used to eat away harmful pollution molecules, they could also destroy the molecules that make up buildings — or you. There is a fear that swarms of nanobots could be the deadliest weapon of the future.
What?! Cute little robots could become world-destroying weapons? How?
Take this scenario on how our world could turn from a lush planet of people, animals, and vegetation into a glob of goo:
