What Is Entropy? A Measure of Just How Little We Really Know. | Quanta Magazine

“Entropy applies to every part of our lives. It is inescapable, and even if we try to ignore it, the result is a collapse of some sort. Understanding entropy leads to a radical change in the way we see the world. Ignorance of it is responsible for many of our biggest mistakes and failures. We cannot expect anything to stay the way we leave it. To m... See more

The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of closed physical systems always tends to increase, meaning that systems march from order to disorder. Think of dropping a dash of ink into a glass of clear water. The initial state, the one in which the drop of ink is localized in a gorgeous swirl, is information-rich. There are few ways fo

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- “In short, it’s the irreversible rise of entropy that makes timekeeping possible, while both periodicity and complexity enhance clock performance.”