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	Von Neumann probe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		A von Neumann probe is a specific example of a hypothetical concept based on the work of Hungarian-born American mathematician and physicist John von Neumann.
		Von Neumann rigorously studied the concept of self-replicating machines that he called "Universal Assemblers" - and which are most often referred to as von Neumann machines.
		If a self-replicating probe finds evidence of primitive life (or a primitive, low level culture) it might be programmed to lie dormant, silently observe, attempt to make contact (this variant is known as a Bracewell probe), or even interfere with or guide the evolution of life in some way.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Von_Neumann_probe (1907 words)

	von Neumann probes
		Initially, a von Neumann probe, consisting of an interstellar propulsion system and a universal von Neumann replicator with human-level intelligence, would be launched from the home star toward a neighboring stellar system.
		The great advantage of a von Neumann probe is that, being a universal machine, it can be used for any purpose at its target system depending on the instructions sent out to it from its ultimate creators.
		He assumed the von Neumann probe approach to be so logical and economical that it would be commonly adopted by advanced civilizations.
	www.daviddarling.info /encyclopedia/V/vonNeumannprobe.html (1011 words)

	What is a Von Neumann Probe?
		Though von Neumann himself never discussed the idea of using self-replicating machines to explore space, shortly after his death in 1957 the concept began to enter science fiction and futurism.
		If the speed of a von Neumann probe and its ability to self-replicate is fast enough, von Neumann probes could enable the creation of a colonization wavefront of exponentially self-replicating probes, expanding outwards at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light.
		The best-known appearance of a von Neumann probe in fiction was in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," which portrayed a von Neumann probe as a fl monolith.
	www.wisegeek.com /what-is-a-von-neumann-probe.htm (337 words)

	Von Neumann machine - LearnThis.Info Enclyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		A von Neumann machine is either of two different machines popularized by the famous mathematician John von Neumann.
		A von Neumann machine is a model created by John von Neumann for a computing machine that uses a single storage structure to hold both the set of instructions on how to perform the computation and the data required or generated by the computation.
		The term von Neumann machine also refers to the idea of a self-reproducing machine, which was first examined in a rigorous manner and popularized by John von Neumann who called it a "Universal Constructor".
	encyclopedia.learnthis.info /v/vo/von_neumann_machine.html (274 words)

	[No title]
		This makes it impossible for the probe (or any simple mutation of the basic template) to replicate out of control; instead the probe- colonized systems form a communication network where each new generation has to be deliberately launched.
		Probe Design The basic probe design is a solar sail with a core package and sensors distributed along the rim.
		If we assume a density 75% of diamond (half of the probe is diamond armor, the remaining packing material, processors, energy stores, replicators and photovoltaics), a cone shape, a maximum radius of one centimeter and a length of one meter the mass becomes 0.28 kilograms for each javellin.
	www.nada.kth.se /~asa/Hx/seed (1663 words)

	howard rheingold's \| tools for thought (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Johann von Neumann, a student of Hilbert's, was one of the stars of the formalists.
		Von Neumann was enthusiastic about the military and scientific future of the computer-building enterprise, but the two young men who had dreamed up the computer project before the big brass stepped in were getting other ideas about how their brain-child ought to mature.
		Von Neumann was able to prove that a configuration of about 200,000 cells, each with 29 different possible states and each placed in a neighborhood of 4 orthogonally adjacent squares, could meet all the requirements of a self-reproducing automaton.
	www.rheingold.com /texts/tft/4.html (10041 words)

	Tools for Thought by Howard Rheingold: Chapter Four
		Von Neumann ended up a key policy-maker in the fields of nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and intercontinental ballistic weaponry: he was the director of the Atomic Energy Commission and an influential member of the ICBM Committee.
		Von Neumann seemed to have a kind of "Midas Touch." The problems he tackled, no matter how abstruse and apparently obscure they might have seemed at the time, had a way of becoming very important a decade or two later.
		Von Neumann was especially drawn to the idea of self-reporducing automata--mathematical patterns in space and time that had the property of being able to reproduce themselves.
	www.well.com /user/hlr/texts/tft4.html (9334 words)

	The Von Neumann Probe and You. - Above Top Secret Conspiracy Community
		If we are a Von Neumann probe, then, what has to be asked, is whether our creators will come for their information one day, or whether they have long gone extinct, and we, our tool, are their remains.
		Von Neumann probes also have to be able to replicate in solar systems not suitable for life.
		A common problem with Von Neumann machines is that they could produce too quickly and would become a giant 'pink/grey mass', covering over entire planets and leaving already inhabited planets useless.
	www.abovetopsecret.com /forum/thread107008/pg1 (2294 words)

	3.11
		However, there is no evidence that von Neumann ever described a self-replicating machine in the context of interstellar exploration or interstellar communication and so it seems technically incorrect to name this concept after him.
		The idea of self-replicating interstellar probes was later adopted and widely promoted in 1981 by Tipler [1015, 1044] (a physicist often erroneously credited with originating the idea)** who inadvertently did not mention the earlier work, an omission which he recognized and corrected 13 years later (see Tipler [2885] at pp.
		The final replicated probe had a dry mass of 107,000 tons (roughly the mass of a modern seagoing petroleum supertanker) and was to carry ~10 megatons of He /D fusion fuel.
	www.molecularassembler.com /KSRM/3.11.htm (807 words)

	The virtual existence of the universal constructor -- part I (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Each subsequent probe would then be launched towards a different solar system with the aim of repeating the procedure until all systems have been explored.
		Given the speculative nature of the Von Neumann mission we might have cause to wonder what a Von Neumann probe actually is, apart from a glint in the eye of an over-exuberant NASA scientist chasing RandD funds.
		It’s not that the technology required to build a Von Neumann probe does not presently exist (according to CC Price the knowledge required to synthesize a human cell from random interstellar debris will be with us in 30 years).
	www.cinestatic.com /Whorecull/issue4/universal.asp (852 words)

	PowWeb Community Forums - View Single Post - Thank You Mr Lucas
		A Von Neumann probe is a robot designed to reach distant star systems and create factories which will reproduce copies themselves by the thousands.
		Similar to a virus colonizing a body many times its size, eventually there would be a sphere of trillions of Von Neumann probes expanding in all directions, increasing at a fraction of the speed of light.
		If a Von Neumann probe only finds evidence of primitive life they might simply lie dormant on the moon, silently waiting for the civilization to evolve into a stable higher civilization.
	forum.powweb.com /showpost.php?p=76121&postcount=1 (684 words)

	[New-Poetry] The Poetics of History Part IV (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		The advent of modern automata, that is ones with commercial viability as well as anthropomorphic associations, can be in large part attributed to the work of the mathematician John von Neumann.
		In his book, Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata published in 1966 (preceded by several papers beginning two decades earlier) Von Neumann realizes in a viable scientific form, robots which not only reproduce themselves, but also are programmed, evolutionarily, to colonize space, literally gobbling there way across the universe.
		Von Neumann in his book formulates the physical structure of his self-reproducing automata.
	ebbs.english.vt.edu /pipermail/new-poetry/2001-June/002857.html (375 words)

	Sentient Developments (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		And as cosmologist Milan Cirkovic notes, "new complex-lifeform habitats cannot be expected to arise in a colonized Galaxy." Thus, we are forced to conclude that we live in an uncolonized Galaxy, bewildered as to why.
		Dubbed the Von Neumann probe, it is a self-replicating machine that could travel from solar system to solar system replicating itself and spreading out at an exponential rate.
		Arthur C. Clarke's Von Neumann probe, as portrayed by a fl monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, awaited humanity's progression to a specific stage of development before instigating the next phase of evolution for the species.
	www.sentientdevelopments.com /space_not.html (2070 words)

	Clanking replicator (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		This last term ("von Neumann machine") is less specific and also refers to a completely unrelated computer architecture proposed by von Neumann, so its use is discouraged where accuracy is important.
		Von Neumann himself used the term "Universal Constructor".
		The idea of non-biological self-replicating systems was first seriously suggested by mathematician [[John von Neumann]] in the late [[1940s]] when he proposed a [[kinematic]] self-reproducing automaton model as a [[thought experiment]].
	clankingreplicator.quickseek.com (947 words)

	Self Replicating Systems and Molecular Manufacturing
		Von Neumann worked out the details for a Constructor that worked in a theoretical two-dimensional cellular automata world (and parts of his proposal have since been modeled computationally[13]).
		While this solution demonstrates the theoretical validity of the idea, von Neumann's kinematic constructor (which was not worked out in such detail) has had perhaps a greater influence, for it is a model of self replication which can more easily be adapted to the three-dimensional world in which we live.
		Von Neumann's proposals centered around the combination of a Universal Constructor, which could make anything it was directed to make, and a Universal Computer, which could compute anything it was directed to compute.
	www.zyvex.com /nanotech/selfRepJBIS.html (6448 words)

	Epilogue: Earth Probe, Long Delayed Echoes, Stormer, Carl Stormer, LDE, Bracewell, Ronald Bracewell, Von Neumann Probe, ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		(The Von Neumann of Corso fame.) Von Neumann had proposed that alien probes may have been launched from some far distant civilisation and remained in orbit around planets likely to harbour life until contact could be made on the ‘dawn’ of that civilisation’s radio era.
		This idea of probes is actually far from alien in concept, for the idea of Earth sending out such probes into space to seek out extraterrestrial life was endorsed by NASA in 1997.
		This concept of exploration by interstellar probes was adopted at the ‘Space Science Enterprise Planing Workshop’ which met in Breckenridge, Colorado in May 1997.
	www.violations.dabsol.co.uk /probe/probepart1.htm (1319 words)

	Project: Von Neumann - Pre-Game Plot
		The huge shape of Von Neumann Probe dominates the view, half finished, with people dwarfed by its size working on it.
		The Von Neumann Probe is successfully launched towards the asteroid belt.
		The probes vary in shape and color, though some common plan may be recognizable.
	www.krl.caltech.edu /~charles/alife-game/plot.html (633 words)

	Project: Von Neumann - Glossary (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Probe: All of the creatures in the game; both player and alife units.
		Project: Von Neumann is a perfect example of this as the probes will adapt to their environment (including the player) without an outside force making or directing them.
		Von Neumann: Hungarian-born German-American mathematician who made important contributions in quantum physics, logic, meteorology, and computer science.
	www.krl.caltech.edu /~charles/alife-game/glossary.html (492 words)

	Self-replicating Von Neumann Probes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Michio Kaku in which he talks about the types of civilizations that might exist in the Universe and rates them as Type I, II, or III (Earth almost qualifies as Type I but is not advanced enough yet; Star Trek's Federation rates as Type II and the Borg as Type III).
		Von Neumann probes; self-replicating, autonomous robots that would be the most practical way to explore
		The probes would "live off the land", finding planets with raw materials, setting up robot factories, and sending out more probes as they progressed.
	robots.net /article/1165.html (266 words)

	Bernice Summerfield and The Big Hunt
		The probes were launched from Earth in the 2040s, programmed to locate inhabitable planets, reconfigure themselves to adapt to local conditions and create ready-made colonies for human settlers.
		Presumably the probe landed there, in which case it is no longer in its original condition after all.
		Though there is no explicit connection made between the two, it may be worth comparing the von Neumann probes to the Mechanoids introduced in The Chase; the probes could be earlier, later, or simply different versions of the same technology.
	www.drwhoguide.com /bs_n09.htm (2668 words)

	The CHUD.COM Message Boards - My Theory of the Matrix (spoilers)
		The Von Neumann probe, in theory, is an artifically intelligent machine which is capable of intergalactic travel.
		Upon arrival in a suitable system, the Von Neumann probe gather's necessary raw materials from convenient sources (asteroids, etc) in order to construct a serviceable space station.
		When this task is complete, the Von Neumann probe gestates a human population from stored genetic materials, self-replicates and dispatches that replication to the end of further expansion.
	www.chud.com /forums/printthread.php?t=38017 (1918 words)

	Possible Future Global Catastrophes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Note that an alien Von Neumann probe could pose a variant of the robot aggression or nanoplague catastrophes.
		Similarly, humanity's first Von Neumann probes will be incapable of overwhelming Earth's defenses even if they tried.
		To be truly dangerous, VN probes would have to be of a species with both true intelligence and a significant military advantage over humanity.
	humanknowledge.net /socialscience/futurology/catastrophes.html (1437 words)

	von Neumann, John (1903-1957)
		The book Games and Economic Behavior, which he co-authored with Oskar Morgenstern in 1944, is considered a seminal work in the field of game theory.
		Von Neumann devised the so-called von Neumann architecture used in all modern computers and studied cellular automata in order to construct the first examples of self-replicating automata, now known as von Neumann machines.
		Von Neumann had a mind of great ingenuity, nearly total recall of what he'd learned, immense arrogance, and a great love of jokes and humor.
	www.daviddarling.info /encyclopedia/V/von_Neumann.html (202 words)

	www.myspace.com/thevonneumannprobe (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		The inaudible whimpers and moans of self-replicating cells writhing in disgust and abhorrence at the mere fact that they solely exist to reproduce more of themselves.
		A von Neumann probe, consisting of an interstellar propulsion system and a universal von Neumann replicator with human-level intelligence, would be launched from the home star toward a neighboring stellar system.
		The Von Neumann Probe is trying WAAAAAY too hard to sound like Good Charlotte.
	www.myspace.com /thevonneumannprobe (693 words)

	Speculation tempered with the laws of physics, Type I, II, and III Civilizations
		However, the most mathematically efficient method to explore space is far less glamorous: to send fleets of “Von Neumann probes” throughout the galaxy (named after John Von Neumann, who established the mathematical laws of self-replicating systems).
		If a Von Neumann probe only finds evidence of primitive life (such as an unstable, savage Type 0 civilization) they might simply lie dormant on the moon, silently waiting for the Type 0 civilization to evolve into a stable Type I civilization.
		These probes may act as life-forms, reproducing their genetic information, mutating and evolving at each stage of reproduction to enhance their capabilities, and may have artificial intelligence to accelerate their search.
	homepage.mac.com /kaaawa/iblog/C374124257/E173812157 (3096 words)

	"Answering the Fermi Paradox", John Smart, 2002
		Certainly the Voyager and Pioneer probes which we initially expected would leave our solar system (but later discovered are still trapped in a very elongated solar orbit) are, on one level, examples of that desire.
		Thus any robot probes we would send that were too intelligent would rapidly transcend themselves soon after beginning their journey.
		So the primer, dispersed by an army of sterile and complexity-limited probes, capable of replicating but not of increasing their own complexity would be the only reasonable communication we could expect in such a scenario.
	www.accelerating.org /articles/answeringfermiparadox.html (4794 words)

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