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thermodynamics

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Beyond the Second Law

By Nicole Yunger Halpern
March 31, 2022
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Thanks to the power of fluctuation relations, physicists are taking the second law of thermodynamics to settings once thought impossible.

Close-up video of bubbles in a lava lamp moving and splitting under the influence of heat.
origins of life

At the Dawn of Life, Heat May Have Driven Cell Division

By Carrie Arnold
November 23, 2021
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A mathematical model shows how a thermodynamic mechanism could have made protocells split in two.

Illustration of various kinds of clocks floating against a pink background.
quantum information theory

The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks

By Natalie Wolchover
August 31, 2021
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Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well as insights into the nature of time itself.

An illustration of a demon’s face.
explainers

How Maxwell’s Demon Continues to Startle Scientists

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
April 22, 2021
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The thorny thought experiment has been turned into a real experiment — one that physicists use to probe the physics of information.

A drawing of a piece of folded paper going back and forth between paper airplane and paper bird shapes.
Abstractions blog

Some Proteins Change Their Folds to Perform Different Jobs

By Viviane Callier
February 3, 2021
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Unusual proteins that can quickly fold into different shapes provide cells with a novel regulatory mechanism.

materials science

The Shape-Shifting Squeeze Coolers

By Marcus Woo
August 24, 2020
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Push or crush a new class of materials, and they’ll undergo record-breaking temperature changes.

universality

The Universal Law That Aims Time’s Arrow

By Natalie Wolchover
August 1, 2019
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A new look at a ubiquitous phenomenon has uncovered unexpected fractal behavior that could give us clues about the early universe and the arrow of time.

Photo of Escherichia coli under a microscope
Abstractions blog

Swarming Bacteria Create an ‘Impossible’ Superfluid

By Charlie Wood
July 26, 2018
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Researchers explore a loophole that extracts useful energy from a fluid’s seemingly random motion. The secret? Sugar and asymmetry.

Illustration for thermodynamics
Abstractions blog

Quantum Correlations Reverse Thermodynamic Arrow of Time

By Katia Moskvitch
April 2, 2018
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A recent experiment shows how quantum mechanics can make heat flow from a cold body to a hot one, an apparent (though not real) violation of the second law of thermodynamics.


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