Sunday, November 14, 2010
INFORMATION ==> ENERGY ???
In this article:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=demonic-device-converts-inform
it is suggested that information is used to "generate energy from information." Later on in the article, the claim is modified to:
"The experiment does not actually violate the second law of thermodynamics, because in the system as a whole, energy must be consumed by the equipment -- and the experimenters -- to monitor the bead and switch the voltage as needed. But it does show that information can be used as a medium to transfer energy."
But even this claim seems too much, sort of. In exactly the same sense, every time someone invents and builds a motor, they are using information to transfer energy. It seems to me that all that is going on in this experiment is that the authors are building and operating a motor.
Labels: energy, Information