∆G = ∆H – T∆S is one of the most abstract formulas in science, but it is also one of the most important. Without it, life cannot exist.
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You searched for: Entropy
Dive into a realm where time, space, and even reality itself are put into question.
The outer planets’ clouds hide the weirdness within.
The ten greatest ideas in science form the bedrock of modern biology, chemistry, and physics. Everyone should be familiar with them.
Information may not seem like something physical, yet it has become a central concern for physicists. A wonderful new book explores the importance of the “dataome” for the physical, biological, and human worlds.
Lord Kelvin is thought to have said there was nothing new to discover in physics. His real view was the opposite.
It’s deceptively tricky to distinguish living systems from non-living systems. Physics may be key to solving the problem.
Has all this happened before, and will all this happen once again? There are only a few questions, when we ask them, that force us to reckon with the fundamental nature […]
An analysis of the gravitational wave data from black hole mergers show that the event horizon area, and entropy, always increases.
The most common element in the Universe, vital for forming new stars, is hydrogen. But there’s a finite amount of it; what if we run out?
Time always moves in the same direction, but what if the Universe were contracting? As we step forward in time, a number of things always seem to happen together. Objects […]
Modern cosmology conjectures different possible fates for the Universe and thus for the end of time. Details depend on which model is right.
For every proton, there were over a billion others that annihilated away with an antimatter counterpart. So where did all that energy go?
Thinking about the problem of meaning is unsettling because it introduces us to a list of solutions that all feel a bit insane.
Entropy always increases, but that doesn’t mean it was zero to start with. One of the most inviolable laws in the Universe is the second law of thermodynamics: that in any […]
Everything is made of matter, not antimatter, including black holes. If antimatter black holes existed, what would they do?
Nothing lives forever, at least, not in the physical Universe. But relativity allows us to get closer than ever, from one perspective.
The Universe didn’t begin with a bang, but with an inflationary “whoosh” that came before. Here are the biggest questions that still remain.
The meaning of the cryptic text has eluded scholars for centuries. Their latest efforts include computational analyses seeking new insights into the medieval enigma.
In all the Universe, only a few particles are eternally stable. The photon, the quantum of light, has an infinite lifetime. Or does it?
We thought the Big Bang started it all. Then we realized that something else came before, and it erased everything that existed prior.
In all the Universe, only a few particles are eternally stable. The photon, the quantum of light, has an infinite lifetime. Or does it?
Neuroscientist and author Bobby Azarian explores the idea that the Universe is a self-organizing system that evolves and learns.
A thought experiment from 1867 leads scientists to design a groundbreaking information engine.
Many people out there, including scientists, claim to have discovered a series of game-changing revolutions. Here’s why we don’t buy it.
Sun-like stars live for around 10 billion years, but our Universe is only 13.8 billion years old. So what’s the maximum lifetime for a star?
We still don’t know how the information encoded onto it gets out. No matter what you do in the Universe, its overall entropy always increases. Even when we put things in […]
Walter Pitts rose from the streets to MIT, but couldn’t escape himself.
The inevitable long, slow decline is accelerating, and there’s nothing we can do. The Universe, as it is today, is less active, is forming fewer stars, and is creating fewer chances […]
The most common element in the Universe, vital for forming new stars, is hydrogen. But there’s a finite amount of it; what if we run out?