Jeff -

I'm a scientist in nanotechnology. For obvious reasons anonymity is important in my contacting you. Don't want my reputation going down the loo, you know.

Basically what I wish to say is - there is speculation and hype behind a lot of nanotech. I have heard it all. When I hear you say on air, that the "easiest" thing for nanotechies is the dreaded gray goo, well, you have been severely mislead.

Even if secret science is 100 years ahead of mainstream, there is no self-replicating goo of any kind on the horizon even for them.

The nano books and conferences and companies are filled with hucksters who want investment. The UK and US governments anyway are falling all over them, in many cases a big waste of money, that.

So - don't believe everything you hear. We don't even understand how cells work, mostly. When we do maybe - maybe - we will after another 30 years develop the techniques to produce some kind of artificial organic life.

There is real danger from man-made viruses and their kin. Genetic engineering is a threat in the here-and-now. In fact the danger is greater today than tomorrow because today we still don't know everything about the genetic code. A lot of it is dismissed, foolishly, as "junk" DNA which just means we don't understand its functions. I would personally trust genetic engineering more in 100 years than I do today. The knowledge will have increased. Today we have the deplorable spectacle of Monsanto trying to force its GMO crops on Africans, who sensibly reject such "aid." Well, they at least demand that seeds be ground into flour, but the GMO hucksters will hear none of that. They are here to "help."

But anyway mate - gray goo is just science fiction. Sincerely, UFOs are far more real.

Comment
From John Polluck
6-25-3

That article redicules the idea of nanites that are "self-replicating". These people who claim to be British cientists are prodded by MI or perhaps MI directly.

As a Contactee and Researcher i will say that nanites do exist.They are implants.As a virus.Technically not alive,yet it replicates itself. The entry points are not the nostrils,which people saw in a flick,it is at the back of the skull,where you will find tiny bumps,scar tissue.

It was the British who started this whole secrecy campaign, because of the power the church has over them!


Comment

From Anonymous 6-27-3

Hi Jeff -

Thank you for publicising my letter. You are the very best and we love you across the pond. With respect to Mr. Polluck's comment, I certainly do not ridicule self-replication. Biology proves it to be both possible and actualised. Your body is a collection of 75 trillion self-replicating nano entities -- cells.

All I wished to report was that, from the standpoint of terrestrial science, gray goo is not even on long-range radar. Having said that, we cannot dismiss the prospect of a genetically engineered bio disaster. That is another matter -- and kudos to you for airing Dr. Patricia Doyle in her valiant fight.

Mechanically controlling a single chemical reaction is a major technical feat. A very few labs have done it, but the task requires liquid helium temperatures, ultra high vacuum like that of outer space, and plenty of graduate students to nurse expensive equipment. Mere decades ago, the first imaging of matter at the atomic level was awarded the Nobel prize. So in the decades since, we haven't come very far along the nanobot development path.

That is not to say your tax dollars for research are unwelcome or even wholly misplaced. It is only to say that the path will be littered with Nobel prizes over many decades. That is the magnitude of achievement involved. Consequently, worries about 'gray goo' whilst very real GMO issues threaten us are thoroughly misplaced.

Anyone skeptical of my assessment may review the open research literature and extrapolate. A clear picture will emerge if you talk to research scientists themselves, avoiding the corporate PR flaks and pseudo-scientists. Beware! Even highly prestigious scientific advisors may be nothing more than name-dropping paint. You must speak to the actual worker bees. Some of the big names in science give no more than four hours per year to each of their dozens of board memberships. And of course, they will toe the party line.

There is no telling what alien civilizations may have achieved, but I cannot speak for them!