Nano-Threat

It turns out that in the nanotech scare arena, "gray goo" is out and "green goo" is in. Gray goo is the scenario popularized in Michael Crichton's novel Prey, in which tiny self-replicating nano-machines take over the world. In the green goo scenario, the tiny self-replicating nano-machines are organic.

"With nanobiotech, researchers have the power to create completely new organisms that have never existed on Earth," said the ETC release accompanying its report.

Yeah, new organisms like dogs, mules, and domesticated rice plants, only made through a different method. Makes your blood run cold, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, InstaPundit points out a new study which shows that Americans are generally optimistic about nanotechnology, despite the fact that they have no clue what nanotechnology is.