Singularity Countdown

It appears as though the countdown to grey goo has begun...

RepRap just announced that they have achieved replication.

And just what does that mean?

Some watchdogs of the singularity are concerned about the prospect of nanomachinery turning the earth's biosphere into a bunch of grey goo through a process of runaway replication. Of course, as you can see from the image, this machine is a far cry from nano.

The RepRap is an amazing machine, a bootstrap for the singularity. It is a 3d printer, capable of creating objects based on a schematic designed on a computer. Including, yes, itself. It is able to create all the parts necessary to clone itself, in a timespan measured in minutes.

And the really amazing thing (to me) is that the materials cost to get the thing started is less than $400. And the software is, of course, completely open source.

So what's the point?

People are using it to make door knobs, hooks, fly swatters, and children's sandals (as shown above). And it's as easy as drawing a sketch with a mouse cursor to make your own objects.

I foresee that this is the technology that can finally end our dependency on slave labor to create wealth for our society. But we'll have to do away with our current economic system. And there are many who will fight tooth and nail to fight that inevitability.

Let's see, then, if we turn on this machine and leave it and its descendants to do their thing, they'll turn the earth into a giant RepRap factory in, what, six days and 14 hours? And all for $400...