[ExI] Von Neumann Probes

[John Clark]

On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 6:11 PM spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:


>
> * > The other thing I'm trying to understand is how a bacterium-sized
> probe travelling at 1%c would last more than a few decades in interstellar
> space. Just one single collision with a grain of dust would destroy it.*


*According to Osmanov, although the logic (machinery) of A Von Neumann
probe would theoretically only need a picogram of mass (10^-12 grams), to
be practical the probe would require about 10^-3 grams, the size and mass
of a grain of coarse sand. The extra mass would be used to make a Graphene
shield needed to protect the probe from collisions with dust particles.*

*John K Clark*


>
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