Louis Del Monte (Louis Del Monte), a prominent physicist, former head of development at IBM microelectronics, a developer of technology for Honeywell and Samsung, the author of studies on artificial intelligence, this spring, released his new book “Nanoweapons: a growing threat to humanity” (Nanoweapons: a growing threat to humanity).
Del Monte predicts that by the end of the 2020s, the terrorists will be able to access nanoweapons, and will be able to use nanobots (nanorobots) to carry out terrorist attacks, for example, to contamination of the water supply systems of major cities or poisoning of people by injection. Nanodrone, according to Del Monte, can also become the tools of biological warfare.
Over the miniaturization of drones the military lab working for a long time. Last year, DARPA has been able to boast the results of their program to create quick light Autonomous drones. A small drone without control operators, no GPS and relying on a system of sensors that was able to fly through the maze test with a speed of 20 m/s. the Next task — reducing the size and mass of all systems that a drone could operate quickly and independently indoors.
In 2014, researchers from the army laboratory, USA presented a miniature wing length 3-5 cm, robotic legs and miniature motors with a diameter of 2-3 mm. According to researchers, in 10-15 years they will be able to create military robots-insects.
This, of course, is not the nanolevel, but it is a clear vector of development of military technology.
In 2010, the Pentagon expressed fears that nanotechnology will lead to the creation of the explosive artificial micropyle, the nanobots will be able to deliver a biological weapon to make themselves as weapons, and even nanobots will fall when breathing into the lungs of the soldiers and disabling them.
By the way, in the summer of 2016, RIA Novosti, referring to the Venezuelan Pro-government Aporrea portal, wrote that the Venezuelan authorities have attributed the death of Hugo Chavez with nanoweapons. According to Aporrea, the poisoning of Chavez could be involved in the United States and nanotechnology: “Nanoweapons can transport different types of nanoparticles that are able to provoke a large number of diseases such as heart attack, stroke, respiratory failure, dementia, AIDS, and others.” According to Aporrea, the development nanooruzhiya began in the USA in 2003 at the initiative of President George W. Bush, and was allocated $ 3.7 billion.
About nanoweapons also remembered after a recent death in Malaysia, Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-UN, as in the theory of toxins can be delivered to the body with nanocarriers.
Himself Louis Del Monte in his book, predicts that Autonomous nanobots will be able to collect their copies, i.e. to reproduce themselves. Managing millions of nanobots can be a huge problem, and glitches in the software can lead to unpredictable consequences. For example, lost a million or so military nanobots can begin the destruction of those targets or the civilian population.
Another danger, according to Del Monte, is the emergence of technologies for creating miniature nuclear bombs that can be used by terrorists for a variety of purposes. The scientist also claims that the US, Russia and China have invested “billions” in development nanooruzhiya and that the world is threatened by a new arms race, far more dangerous than the one that was the place to be with nuclear weapons.
At Cambridge University believe that there is a 5% risk of destruction of humanity by the year 2100 due to the use of military nanotechnology, a 10% risk of death at least one billion people and 25% risk of death at least one million people. This 5% probability of the complete disappearance of mankind from nanooruzhiya is the highest, the same as the death of the artificial intelligence (also 5%). The probability of total loss of humanity from nuclear war or pandemic.
Interest nanoweapons resumed after the award of the Nobel prize in chemistry for the year 2016. Got it Jean-Pierre Sauvage (Jean-Pierre Sauvage), sir James Fraser Stoddart (Fraser Stoddart) and Bernard Lucas Feringa (Bernard L. Feringa) for the development and synthesis of molecular machines. Scientists were able to deduce a molecular machine out of balance, made possible the creation of miniature versions of engines. This opens up great prospects for the nanobots. The Nobel Committee compared the development of Sauvage, Stoddart and Feringa with the creation of the first electric motor in 1830 and predicted that molecular machines will change the entire way of life of mankind, as it did once the motors.
Today, the media mainly discusses the medical aspects of using nanobots to treat a person or for creating new materials, but the military application is obvious.
In this light, again remember the forgotten and global theory of “grey goo”, which sounded in 1986, Eric Drexler (Eric Drexler). It is assumed that self-replicating nano-machines will perform as machines not only of creation but of destruction, coming down and continuously recycling matter and gain energy for your copy. And instead of the programmed destruction, for example, only missiles or reactors in Iran, the nanobots will begin to devour everything else. Or uncontrolled self-replication of their can program the terrorists.
In 2000, Drexler’s ideas were developed by Robert Freitas (Freitas, Robert). He divided the “grey goo” subspecies: “grey plankton” — nanobots in the World ocean, “gray dust” nanobots, extractive necessary for replication of a substance directly from the air, “gray lichen” — nanobots on the surface of the Earth, and “killers of biomass”, destroying living organisms. To combat the “gray goo” Freitas proposed to accumulate an army of “good” and preferably not self-replicating nanobots that can be used to neutralize “bad”.
Future war may look like a war of invisible nanobots, but not as battle robots or cyberbully. Louis Del Monte believes that it is the possession of nanoweapons in the 21st century will determine who is the superpower and who is not.
