Includes bibliographical references.

In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A (self-sustaining and self-reproducing)cloud of nanoparticles-micro-robots-has e4scaped from the laboratory. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator, evolving swiftly and becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. and we are the prey.