In his 1963 scifi story "The Invincible," the Polish writer Stanisław Lem imagined an artificial species of free-floating nanobots which roamed the atmosphere of a far-off planet. Like tiny bugs, the microscopic beings were powerless alone, but together they could form cooperative swarms to gather energy, reproduce, and ultimately defend their territory from predators with deadly force. Unlike the story's human protagonists, the "black cloud" of bots was incapable of reasoning beyond the simple logic of animal instincts.
If you have spent any time on educational YouTube, you may have seen several educators fawn over this material. It has the appearance of 'frozen smoke,' is ultralight, and has excellent thermal insulation properties. Since the material is mostly air, it is highly effective at preventing heat transfer while weighing astonishingly little. Most of the applications you'll see discussed are in the aerospace industry, but it will make its way into the construction industry
In 2000, Bill Joy, the co-founder and chief scientist of the computer company Sun Microsystems, sounded an alarm about technology. In an article in Wired titled 'Why the Future Doesn't Need Us', Joy wrote that we should 'limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge.' He feared a future in which our inventions casually wipe us from the face of the planet.
