News tagged with law of thermodynamics

Maxwell's demon demonstration turns information into energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Japan are the first to have succeeded in converting information into free energy in an experiment that verifies the "Maxwell demon" thought experiment devised in 1867.

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 15, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (47) | comments 23 | with audio podcast report

Tiny generators turn waste heat into power

The second law of thermodynamics is a big hit with the beret-wearing college crowd because of its implicit existential crunch. The tendency of a closed systems to become increasingly disordered if no energy is added or removed ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Sep 28, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (10) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Mathematical model explains marital breakups

(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people know love takes work, and effort is needed to sustain a happy relationship over the long term, but now a mathematician in Spain has for the first time explained it mathematically ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created May 17, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (43) | comments 8 | with audio podcast report

Second Law of Thermodynamics May Explain Economic Evolution

(PhysOrg.com) -- Terms such as the "invisible hand," laissez-faire policy, and free-market principles suggest that economic growth and decline in capitalist societies seem to be somehow self-regulated. Now, ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (34) | comments 30 feature

Physicist Proposes Solution to Arrow-of-Time Paradox

(PhysOrg.com) -- Entropy can decrease, according to a new proposal - but the process would destroy any evidence of its existence, and erase any memory an observer might have of it. It sounds like the plot ...

Physics / General Physics

created Aug 27, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (80) | comments 108 feature

Could Maxwell's Demon Exist in Nanoscale Systems?

(PhysOrg.com) -- Maxwell’s demon may be making a comeback. Physicists know that the demon, an imaginary creature that decreases the entropy of a system, cannot exist in macroscopic systems due to the energy ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jun 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (19) | comments 30 feature

Entropyman.org Explains Why Pots 'Unbreak' on the Nanoscale (Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A man lifts his hand in the air, and broken pieces of ceramic lying on the sidewalk spring up into his hand, coming together to form a flower pot. He lifts his hands again, and more broken ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 16, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 6 weblog