In 1949, famed mathematician and physicist John von Neumann delivered a series of addresses at the University of Illinois, where he introduced the concept of “universal constructor.”

The theory was further detailed in the 1966 book, Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata, a collection of von Neumann’s writings compiled and completed by a colleague after his death.

In the years that followed, scientists engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) considered how advanced civilizations could rely on self-replicating probes to explore the galaxy.