[yor_on (OP)]

I saw a program recently on the telly suggesting that we should build self replicating nano robots to explore the universe. The idea behind seems to be that we will imitate successful viruses etc and also get a better 'weight'/efficiency-ratio when it comes to acceleration etc. But self-replicating?
Lets see... 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4086 .... That number will rise very fast, it seems to me, as long as there is sufficient 'raw materials'.

[DoctorBeaver]

What raw materials would they use?

[LeeE]

They're commonly known as von-Neumann machines and have turned up lots of sci-fi literature.

Have a look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_machine

[Yomi]

yes of  course....

[Don_1]

'self replicating nano robots to explore the universe' - I think somebody put Absynth on their cornflakes instead of milk.