Grey Goo: Difference between revisions

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== Real Life ==

* A strange example from [[Real Life]] which has elements of the [[Grey Goo]] scenario: In the 1950's scientists managed to isolate an immortal cancer cell line (that is, undying cells that could be grown outside of the human body) which they named [[wikipedia:HeLa|HeLa]], after [[wikipedia:Henrietta Lacks|Henrietta Lacks]], an unfortunate woman who had died from the cancer. Scientists at the time were trying to isolate and grow normal human cells outside of the body but were having no luck. Within a short period of time, however, they noticed many of the normal cells suddenly being transformed into cancer cells. This puzzled scientists until they realized that the new cells were actually HeLa cells that had contaminated the normal cultures. HeLa cells were so durable that they were difficult to get rid of via sterilization and the tiniest bit could convert whatever normal tissue they came into contact with. HeLa cells soon spread throughout the world and even today scientists have problems dealing with HeLa contamination of their cell cultures. Fortunately for humanity, the HeLa cells quickly die out or result in only weak tumors when injected into a living human body (yes, there were people crazy enough to try this out). Even more fortunately for humanity, the HeLa cells ability to grow outside the human body led to it being a useful tool in the development of the Polio vaccine, in cancer research and in the testing of drugs, cosmetics and many other substances. A rare case where [[Grey Goo]] actually turned out to benefit humanity. Better yet, the cells are a [[Black Box]]; ''no one in decades of research has been able to figure out why they won't die!'' At this point in time, the mass of her post-death divided cells is greater than the mass of her body at death. Something on the order of 20,000 kilograms worth. And that's in the sixty years since she passed away. But there is also a downside: HeLa cells benefited humanity but not Henrietta's impoverished and undereducated family; when they first heard about the immortal cells they thought scientists had her ''actual body'' being kept alive somewhere. When a woman wanted to talk to them about Henrietta for [http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/ a book], they initially hung up on her because they thought she was another scientist looking to exploit them.

* Then there's the [http://www.cracked.com/article_16583_the-5-scientific-experiments-most-likely-to-end-world.html theoretical threat of Strange Matter.] The television series ''The Universe'' featured it in their 10 Ways to Destroy the Earth, and basically, ''everything on Earth melts'' like a warm ice cream sundae into non-organic goo. Sweet dreams!

* Then there's the [http://www.cracked.com/article_16583_the-5-scientific-experiments-most-likely-to-end-world.html theoretical threat of Strange Matter.] The television series ''The Universe'' featured it in their 10 Ways to Destroy the Earth, and basically, ''everything on Earth melts'' like a warm ice cream sundae into non-organic goo. [[Nightmare Fuel|Sweet dreams!]]

** There are far more energetic particle collisions happening every second as subatomic matter bombards the planet and occasionally smashes into the atmosphere or the ground. So far, in the last nearly five billion years, we've somehow managed to evade such a fate. This suggests that either the energy required to produce strange matter is far larger than what the LHC can manage or the odds of such collisions producing it are so incredibly small as to be considered nearly impossible. The Earth is safe. For now!