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People wonder if nano-non-toxic things would become toxic because of extremely small sizes. But toxicity is achieved by the chemical properties of the toxin. They should first wonder if new chemical properties would emerge when things are ground to nano-dusts.

For example, if nano NaCl is toxic because it becomes highly oxidative and destroys DNA???

We need a new branch: nanochemistry.

As to the iridescence of grey goo, doesn’t iridescence require some kind of regular macrosscale structure to produce a photonic crystal that can interact interact with light, as in a butterfly’s wing or the proverbial water off a duck’s back?

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Mitch

Conversely most people’s (and therefore most tabloid journalists’) experience of nanotechnology is so far limited to Star Trek storylines and wrinkle-masking face creams. So they’re likely to be more receptive for now.

The trick is probably for the evangelists to avoid getting too excited about the possibilities. But that’s probably as remote a possibility as grey goo. (Though wouldn’t it actually be iridescent, rather than grey?)