Home Page Science Frontiers
ONLINE

No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982

Issue Contents




Other pages

.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

Islands Of Hope For Life Eternal

Frautschi examines expanding "causal" regions in the universe, where entropy (disorder) does not increase as fast as the maximum predicted by Thermodynamics. The conclusion of this highly theoretical paper is that, even in these "islands of hope," life and the order it requires cannot survive indefinitely if it is restricted to solid substances. But,

"...it stands as a challenge for the future to find dematerialized modes of organization (based on dust clouds or an e- e+ plasma?) capable of self-replication. If radiant energy production continues without limit, there remains hope that life capable of using it forever can be created."

(Frautschi, Steven; "Entropy in an Expanding Universe," Science, 217:593, 1982.)

Comment. Who said Science was a conservative journal? This smacks of scifi tales of electrolife and Hoyle's Black Cloud.

From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982. © 1982-2000 William R. Corliss

Science Frontiers Sourcebook Project Reviewed in:

Quotes

  • "Before opening the book, I set certain standards that a volume which treads into dangerous grounds grounds like this must meet. The author scrupulously met, or even exceeded those standards. Each phenomenon is exhaustively documented, with references to scientific journals [..] and extensive quotations" -- "Book Review: The moon and planets: a catalog of astronomical anomalies", The Sourcebook Project, 1985., Corliss, W. R., Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada>, Vol. 81, no. 1 (1987), p. 24., 02/1987