View source for Ecophagy

{{Short description|Literal consumption of an ecosystem}}
{{more footnotes|date=April 2008}}

'''Ecophagy''' is a term coined by [[Robert Freitas]] that means the consumption of an [[ecosystem]]. It derives {{ety|el|''οἶκος'' (oikos)|house, household||''φαγεῖν'' (phagein)|to eat}}.

Freitas used the term to describe a scenario involving [[molecular nanotechnology]] gone awry. In this situation (called the [[grey goo]] scenario) out-of-control [[Self-replicating machine|self-replicating nanorobots]] consume entire ecosystems, resulting in global ecophagy.

== Etymology ==
However, the word "ecophagy" is now applied more generally in reference to any event{{dubious|date=April 2012}}—[[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]], the spread of [[monoculture]], massive species [[extinction]]s—that might fundamentally alter the planet. Scholars suggest that these events might result in [[ecocide]] 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 [[human overpopulation|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:<ref>[[Robert Freitas]], (2000) [http://lifeboat.com/ex/global.ecophagy ''Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations'']</ref>

<blockquote>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".</blockquote>

==See also==
{{portal|Ecology|Biology|Environment}}
* [[Ecocide]]
* [[Grey goo]]
* [[Molecular assembler]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Philip Ball, ''[http://www.rachel.org/files/document/The_Robot_Within.txt The Robot Within] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923161041/http://www.rachel.org/files/document/The_Robot_Within.txt |date=2016-09-23 }}'', New Scientist, 15 March 2003.

==External links==
* ''[http://lifeboat.com/ex/global.ecophagy Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations]''
* [http://yahoogroups.com/group/biosafety/message/1 critical review of the Freitas article]{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} in [[biosafety]] group
* [https://archive.org/details/NickSzabosEssayGreenGoo-LifeInTheEraOfHumaneGenocide Green Goo - Life In The Era Of Humane Genocide] by [[Nick Szabo]]
* [http://members.optusnet.com.au/exponentialist/Human%20Global%20Ecophagy.htm Human Global Ecophagy (Or, How Quickly Can Humans Consume the Earth?)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217065137/https://members.optusnet.com.au/exponentialist/Human%20Global%20Ecophagy.htm |date=2024-02-17 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030827001306/http://www.organelle.org/orglinks/pages/Intentional_Ecophagy/ "Intentional Ecophagy" references]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070220135443/http://www.ecophagy.com/ "Nanotechnology Daily News"]

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[[Category:Environmental ethics]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters]]
[[Category:2000 neologisms]]