Does the recent concern about mirror life change your mind? It’s not nano, but it does imply there’s a design space not explored by bio life, which implies there could be others, even if specifically diamonds don’t work.
“Mirror life” is beyond the scope of this post, and the concerns about it are very different than the concerns about “grey goo”—it doesn’t have more capabilities or efficiency, it’s just maybe harder for immune systems to deal with. Personally, I’m not very worried about that and see no scientific reason for the timing of the recent fuss about it. If it’s not just another random fad, the only explanation I can see for that timing is: influential scientists trying to hedge against Trump officials determining that “COVID was a lab leak” in a way that doesn’t offend their colleagues. On the other hand, I do think artificial pathogens in general are a major concern, and even if I’m not very concerned about “mirror life”, there are no real benefits to trying to make it, so maybe just don’t.
Does the recent concern about mirror life change your mind? It’s not nano, but it does imply there’s a design space not explored by bio life, which implies there could be others, even if specifically diamonds don’t work.
“Mirror life” is beyond the scope of this post, and the concerns about it are very different than the concerns about “grey goo”—it doesn’t have more capabilities or efficiency, it’s just maybe harder for immune systems to deal with. Personally, I’m not very worried about that and see no scientific reason for the timing of the recent fuss about it. If it’s not just another random fad, the only explanation I can see for that timing is: influential scientists trying to hedge against Trump officials determining that “COVID was a lab leak” in a way that doesn’t offend their colleagues. On the other hand, I do think artificial pathogens in general are a major concern, and even if I’m not very concerned about “mirror life”, there are no real benefits to trying to make it, so maybe just don’t.