Swarm (nanotech or biology)

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Image from Steve Bowers

[1] Massive numbers of nanobots acting in concert for different purposes. Because nanobots are too small and numerous to be controlled individually, they are usually directed in swarms. Each swarm is comprised of trillions of nanobots, and in a sense comprises an extended superbot, much as an insect swarm represents and extended superorganism (in fact nanobot swarming was originally directly modelled on insect swarms.

[2] Co-ordinated or uncoordinated mass or cloud of interplanetary-capable capable nanite goo, sometimes (but not always) in the form of suite of specialized types including replicator, attack, and utility nanites, and which are used for offensive military or terrorist purposes.

[3] Any biological organism or alife in which millions of individuals move and act as if one.

Aggressive Self-replicating Swarm
Distributed Intelligence
Goo
Memetic Self-replicating Swarm
Monopathic Swarm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Blight-like distributed entities trying to expand, disregarding the wishes and rights of other sentients.
Although this is sometimes used as a pejorative against expansive empires, it properly refers only to homogeneous swarms. monopathic swarms might be both intelligent and non-intelligent.
Paste - Text by Steve Bowers
Swarm devices manufactured by a forge system, (such as a bioforge or nanoforge) so that the individual units do not carry the code for their own replication (human red blood cells are an example of this in biology).
Restriction Swarm
Swarm (habitats)
Terraformer Swarms
Utility Fog
Utility Sand

Appears in Topics

High Tech Societies

Transapientech Societies

Development Notes

Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 31 December 2001.

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