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Bioterrorism and the Fermi Paradox

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2013

Joshua Cooper
Joshua Cooper*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina, 1523 Greene St., Columbia, SC 29208, USA e-mail: cooper@math.sc.edu
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Abstract

We proffer a contemporary solution to the so-called Fermi Paradox, which is concerned with conflict between Copernicanism and the apparent paucity of evidence for intelligent alien civilizations. In particular, we argue that every community of organisms that reaches its space-faring age will (1) almost immediately use its rocket-building computers to reverse-engineer its genetic chemistry and (2) self-destruct when some individual uses said technology to design an omnicidal pathogen. We discuss some of the possible approaches to prevention with regard to Homo sapiens’ vulnerability to bioterrorism, particularly on a short-term basis.

Keywords

Fermi paradoxbioterrorismgenetic engineeringbiomalware
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 144 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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