"For 150 years the second law of thermodynamics has been considered inviolable by the general scientific community; however over the last three decades its absolute status has been challenged by dozens of theoretical and experimental counterexamples...Commercially successful second law devices could disrupt the current energy economy and help support a sustainable energy future." https://philpapers.org/rec/SHEBTT-2
"If environmental heat can be economically converted into useful work on a wide scale—electrical, mechanical, chemical—the effects on the energy sector, the global economy, societal and ecological welfare, warfare, and virtually all aspects of civilization and its relationship to Nature are difficult to predict, but they are likely to be profound—and, we hope, mostly salutary. Of course, every technology is two-edged, depending on its application. In light of second law developments since the mid-1990s, now might seem a good time to start preparing for a world in which thermal energy will be the coin of the realm. Actually, probably not. Technological revolutions typically take decades to unfold. The carbon fuel revolution involving coal, oil, and gas took a couple of centuries to blossom fully, and the semiconductor revolution (still in progress) has taken more than 70 years to mature. Given the imperative of weaning off carbon fuels, perhaps the second law revolution will be quicker, but history, as well as the vast economic and political forces aligned against such changes, does not favor this scenario." https://www.researchgate.net/public...dynamics_An_Introduction_to_the_Special_Issue
Dozens of theoretical and experimental counterexamples? Environmental heat converted into useful work? Preparing for a world in which thermal energy will be the coin of the realm? No, says Philip Ball to enthusiasts, prepare for the deepest humiliation:
Philip Ball: "In all of physical law, there’s arguably no principle more sacrosanct than the second law of thermodynamics — the notion that entropy, a measure of disorder, will always stay the same or increase. “If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations — then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations,” wrote the British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington in his 1928 book The Nature of the Physical World. “If it is found to be contradicted by observation — well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.” No violation of this law has ever been observed, nor is any expected." https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-trace-the-rise-in-entropy-to-quantum-information-20220526/
"If environmental heat can be economically converted into useful work on a wide scale—electrical, mechanical, chemical—the effects on the energy sector, the global economy, societal and ecological welfare, warfare, and virtually all aspects of civilization and its relationship to Nature are difficult to predict, but they are likely to be profound—and, we hope, mostly salutary. Of course, every technology is two-edged, depending on its application. In light of second law developments since the mid-1990s, now might seem a good time to start preparing for a world in which thermal energy will be the coin of the realm. Actually, probably not. Technological revolutions typically take decades to unfold. The carbon fuel revolution involving coal, oil, and gas took a couple of centuries to blossom fully, and the semiconductor revolution (still in progress) has taken more than 70 years to mature. Given the imperative of weaning off carbon fuels, perhaps the second law revolution will be quicker, but history, as well as the vast economic and political forces aligned against such changes, does not favor this scenario." https://www.researchgate.net/public...dynamics_An_Introduction_to_the_Special_Issue
Dozens of theoretical and experimental counterexamples? Environmental heat converted into useful work? Preparing for a world in which thermal energy will be the coin of the realm? No, says Philip Ball to enthusiasts, prepare for the deepest humiliation:
Philip Ball: "In all of physical law, there’s arguably no principle more sacrosanct than the second law of thermodynamics — the notion that entropy, a measure of disorder, will always stay the same or increase. “If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations — then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations,” wrote the British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington in his 1928 book The Nature of the Physical World. “If it is found to be contradicted by observation — well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.” No violation of this law has ever been observed, nor is any expected." https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-trace-the-rise-in-entropy-to-quantum-information-20220526/
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram