Re: Colors of alien plants -- Scientific American

On Apr 17, 11:23=A0am, David Friedman <d...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> In article <fu7psu$56...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> =A0mkkuh...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Mary K. Kuhner) wrote:

> > Drop a 10% plant into our 1% biosphere and it should provide lots of
> > story potential--kudzu to the nth power....
>
> That's part of the point of the grey goo scenarios that nanotech people
> worry about.

Most times I don't worry about Grey Goo. It typically violates
conservation of energy big time (often along with just about every
other physical law that would be expected to apply to such stuff).

But 10% plants, hmm, THOSE have an energy supply for whatever they are
supposed to be doing. Put 2% of the total solar energy into growing so
you outgrow any natural plant by a factor of two or more, put 2% into
reproduction, and the other 6% into growing the rocket launcher or
whatever it is that this plant uses for defense against its natural
enemies (lawn mowers, cattle, people with herbicides, inconvienently
placed buildings that block the sun, lots of possible natural enemies
out there).

DougL