#865: Nanobots

[[Scientist and commander are on a space station.]]

Scientist: Commander! Come quick!

Scientist: It’s the nanobots–they’ve STOPPED!

Scientist: They devoured 40% of the Earth, and then just … quit! They’re just sitting there!

Scientist: Why?!

Commander: It’s a mystery. … unless … What’s the volume of each nanobot?

Scientist: A few cubic microns. Why?

Commander: I think the year 1998 just bought us some time.

[[Earth’s surface, covered in mountains of nanobots.]]

In the swarm:

Nanobot: What do you mean, “Run out of addresses?”

Other Nanobot: Look, we should’ve migrated away from IPv6 AGES ago …

{{Title text: I think the ITEF hit the right balance with the 128 bits thing. We can fit MAC addresses in a

64 subnet, and the nanobots will only be able to devour half the planet.}}