Etymology

grey goo

Today it means: A hypothetical end-of-the-world event involving nanotechnology, in which out-of-control self-replicating nanobots consume all life on Earth (or another planet or moon). Full definition →

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The story

Coined by American engineer K. Eric Drexler in 1986 in Engines of Creation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.