A metallurgist's doubts about self-replicating probes

Home About Administrative Booklist Klaes on Film Contact Select Page A Metallurgist’s Doubts About Self-Replicating Probes by Paul Gilster | Jul 10, 2026 | Astrobiology and SETI | 22 comments Frank Tipler jolted the astrophysics community in 1980 when he introduced self-replicating interstellar probes into discussion of the Fermi Paradox. The mathematical model of self-replication came from John von Neumann, and was codified in 1966 (after von Neumann’s death) by Arthur Burks in Theo