Published in hardback in February 2004, John Robert Marlow’s techno-thriller Nano is a tale about humanity’s close brush with extinction at the hands of “the Final Technology.”
The book tells a seat-gripping story, describing one possible “advanced nanotechnology” scenario. And while society as a whole must start discussing the possibilities that Marlow raises, there are issues, such as the economic disruption (discussed to a lesser extent in Marlow’s book) that could accompany near-term limited nanotech, that have a more urgent need. To learn more about near-term issues, there is no better place to go than the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN).
In Nano’s appendix, Marlow postulates something he calls the “Superswarm,” a means by which we may find a measure of safety once we achieve advanced nanotechnology. The following interview was conducted to address this concept.