Ecophagy is a term coined by

Robert Freitas Robert A. Freitas Jr. (born 1952) is an American nanotechnologist. Career In 1974, Freitas earned a bachelor's degree in both physics and psychology from Harvey Mudd College, and in 1978, he received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Santa Clara ...

that means the literal consumption of an

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

. It derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"οἶκος" (), which refers to a "house" or "household", and the Greek "φαγεῖν" (), "to eat". Freitas used the term to describe a scenario involving

molecular nanotechnology Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials. Based on Richard Feynman's vision of miniatur ...

gone awry. In this situation (called the

grey goo Gray goo (also spelled as grey goo) is a hypothetical global catastrophic scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating machines consume all biomass on Earth while building many more of themselves, a sce ...

scenario) out-of-control self-replicating nanorobots consume entire ecosystems, resulting in global ecophagy.
However, the word "ecophagy" is now applied more generally in reference to any event—nuclear war, the spread of

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...

, massive species extinctions—that might fundamentally alter the planet. Scholars suggest that these events might result in

ecocide Ecocide is human impact on the environment causing mass destruction to that environment. Ten nations have codified ecocide as a crime. Activities that might constitute ecocide in these nations include substantially damaging or destroying ecos ...

in that they would undermine the capacity of the Earth's biological population to repair itself. Others suggest that more mundane and less spectacular events—the unrelenting growth of the human population, the steady transformation of the natural world by human beings—will eventually result in a planet that is considerably less vibrant, and one that is, apart from humans, essentially lifeless. These people believe that the current human trajectory puts us on a path that will eventually lead to ecophagy. In the paper in which Freitas coined the term he wrote:

, (2000
''Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations''
/ref>

Perhaps the earliest-recognized and best-known danger of molecular nanotechnology is the risk that self-replicating nanorobots capable of functioning autonomously in the natural environment could quickly convert that natural environment (e.g., "biomass") into replicas of themselves (e.g., "nanomass") on a global basis, a scenario usually referred to as the "grey goo problem" but perhaps more properly termed "global ecophagy".

References

* Philip Ball,
The Robot Within
', New Scientist, 15 March 2003.

External links

*
Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations
'
critical review of the Freitas article
in biosafety group
Green Goo - Life In The Era Of Humane Genocide
by Nick Szabo
Human Global Ecophagy (Or, How Quickly Can Humans Consume the Earth?)

"Intentional Ecophagy" references

"Nanotechnology Daily News"
{{Molecular nanotechnology footer Environmental ethics Environmental disasters Ecocide 2000 neologisms

See also

References

External links