Shiiiit... here I was thinking how cool it would be if they could miniaturize this, having somehow forgotten that my pet solution to the Fermi paradox is that a

Shiiiit... here I was thinking how cool it would be if they could miniaturize this, having somehow forgotten that my pet solution to the Fermi paradox is that a nigh-inevitable wrung on the ladder to interstellar presence involves discovering One Weird Trick to release a whole bunch of energy pretty easily, even on a DIY basis. Instant end of civilization. Even ant-like societies might have mutated members who'd go rogue and misuse the tech, and it wouldn't take many to ruin everything. Basically it's a twist on the ice-9 solution to the paradox.