Entropy and Evolution Theory

This was an interesting little bit about how the theory of evolution is directly related to the second law of thermodynamics. His conclusion is that evolution is the only possible result of the 2nd law of thermodynamics, as living systems will become more ordered to most efficiently increase entropy. We can relate this to the dissipating strctures and the coffee/oil experiment; putting in energy that is dissapated by the system creates order. Find my link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fal_M1z_v8.

Posted at 11:44AM Nov 03, 2008 by Garik Cruise Sadovy in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Cesium in water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEMZoFV_1-M&feature=related

This remarkably short video show a chemical reaction in which solid Cs is dropped into liquid H2O, converting chemical potential energy into heat.  This demonstrates entropy's tendency to increase - the chemical potential stored in Cs was more useful than the heat, which quickly dissipated into the surroundings.  If the reaction had occured in a closed system, like a container of some sort (preferrably the non-exploding kind), the heat would have been stored, and energy would have been conserved in accordance with the first law of thermodynamics.  However, this system was not closed, so not only was the chemical potential energy converted to a less useful state, the resulting energy was lost to the surroundings.  As you can clearly see, disorder increases in this reaction.  The Cs, which was a solid has now become a gas, and an excited gas at that, with all the heat, and the container holding the water even shattered.

Posted at 01:07PM Oct 23, 2008 by Victor Brozovsky in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Cosmic Apocalyspe

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgtIDSMlkF8

This is a long video from that investigates the various ways the universe and our earth will meet its end, mainly due to the law of entropy- the universe is continually going to disorder.  The video argues that all galaxies will eventually collide so that everything engulfs itself- all the stars and planets crash and destroy one another.  The result will be very high temperatures that would destroy earth.  However, this won't be happening any time soon- it could take billions of years to happen, if it even does occur in the first place.  

Posted at 04:56AM Oct 23, 2008 by Jacob Brennan in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Protein Folding

There is one good video about protein folding and how it Ithe entropy of the water that actually forces the protein into a folded and structured shape. This video was posted earlier and can also be seen here. In addition to this there is another video that talks about the process of the protein folding which can be seen here.

These videos just talk about the process of folding proteins, which doesn?t do justice to a process which is as intricate, complex, impressive and important as protein folding. This link is a video simulation of a protein folding in three dimensions, and the dramatic music to which it takes place is what makes this movie even better.

Posted at 12:28AM Oct 23, 2008 by Timothy Michael Dannenhoffer in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy and Evolution

The purpose of this video is mainly to argue against the claim that the second law of thermodynamics disproves evolution.  Primarily, it clarifies the definition of the second law of thermodynamics and how the earth is not a closed system.  It also stresses the fact that entropy and disorder are not always the same thing. 

The narrator goes on to tell of cases in which scientists hypothesize that entropy, in fact, is a cause of evolution.  They claim that entropy facilitates the tendency of organisms to evolve in order to fill empty niches in ecosystems.

Posted at 11:56PM Oct 22, 2008 by Mary Burroughs in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Genetic Entropy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wap0zZ-BHEU
This video is about genetic mutation. Dr.Purdom states that most mutations do not increase the amount of genetic information, but most are just minor adjustments that disable things. She continues to state that mutation can be beneficial, but it entirely depends on the environment that the lifeforms exist in. According to her, the DNA gets more and more muddled and chaotic. She continues to say that she doesn't beleive mutation can be responsible for evolution, and says that only intelligent design with a combination of entrophy explains it. However, I disagree with this, as situational mutations can build upon themselves to create more complicated, and specialized lifeforms. I think that DNA does relate to entrophy, in a way, but it is different. Entropy isn't always decreasing, and DNA isn't in a closed environment. It is possible for an open system's entropy to decrease, and for things to get more orderly.

Posted at 10:11PM Oct 22, 2008 by Eric Harrell in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy of a Landslide

 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEbYpts0Onw&feature=related">Landslide</a>

This video presents a dramatic presentation of increasing entropy.  If one looks at nothing but the trees in this video, they are obviously ordered, all facing the same direction before the landslide, and a jumbled disordered wreck afterward.  Considering just the position of trees relative to each other, this event has increased entropy, increased disorder and broken symmetry.  The entire lump of land has also lost a great deal of potential energy, and gotten rather jumbled. 

Posted at 10:00PM Oct 22, 2008 by Jeffrey Fowler in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Protein Folding: Overcoming Entropy

Video Link

This video describes Entropy in a simple way and then compares it to protein folding. The entropy of the protein must be overcome to fold. This is done by interactions within the protein, and in some cases, when a protein chain is in water, the entropy of the water causes the protein to fold. It is an example of how useful energy is used while entropy increases.

Posted at 09:25PM Oct 22, 2008 by Adam Keith in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy in Lava Lamp

Lava Lamp

I believe that there is entropy in a Lava Lamp. Unless I am gravely misunderstanding the entropy theory, the lamp is trying to gain a state of equilibrium. When the system is turned on and at a constant temperature, there will never be a point where all the "lava" is in the top or the bottom. This only happens when the system is turned of and cool. At that point all of the lava settles at the bottom of the lamp. I believe during the time period where the lava lamp is heated, heat causes the system to loose equilibrium.

Posted at 09:19PM Oct 22, 2008 by Detric Robinson in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy Allows for Order in the Universe

"video link":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fal_M1z_v8 This video is about how entropy and the second law of thermodynamics allows for the world to become more ordered therefore allowing for evolution to occur. It can be argued that since evolution is a progression of simplicity to complexity it goes against the second law of thermodynamics. In this video it is explained that entropy is actually maximized by the universe while keeping order. Convection currents are used as a model to show how energy is put into a system and order is a result.

Posted at 08:19PM Oct 22, 2008 by Samantha Baughman in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy Animation

The video that i found is an animation of a system that experiences a change in entropy. It begins as two squares, one colored light blue and the other dark blue, and one dot is chosen at random and switched from either light to dark blue or the other way around depending on its initial color. Eventually it always ends up as a perfect mix and it never returns to the original state. but check it out. entropy animation

Posted at 07:56PM Oct 22, 2008 by thomas stuart mccawley in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Reforming English Spelling

Dr. Daniels mentioned in class that some people have called for reforms in our spelling system in order to decrease the "entropy" that exists in the way we form words. The first video below presents arguments for and against spelling reform, ultimately arguing that it would put certain people with different accents at a disadvantage. The second video is more humorous and shows what could happen if we make certain changes to our spelling system, such as changing all hard "c" sounds to "k" sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUiafVun1b4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bvVU8IAwEQ

Posted at 04:56PM Oct 22, 2008 by Nathan Combs in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[1]

Entropy in endothermic reactions

The video I found uses an endothermic reaction in order to display entropy. Ammonium Nitrate and Barium Hydroxide are added to a beaker and they are then mixed together. As they react, Ammonia gas, water and Barium Nitrate are produced. This reaction causes entropy to increase which makes the mixture become more random. I also found a funny song that describes some characteristics of entropy. It discusses how systems never really lose energy but instead the energy just becomes less useful.

Posted at 03:45PM Oct 22, 2008 by Brooke bernard in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KIhDVLbMeY

Entropy, or the way an isolated system tends towards maximum disorder. This video is a musical rendition of the history of energy, thermodynamics and entropy. One part of the video is symbolic to what I once read in my Conservation of Natural Resources.

Sunlight is pure energy, or pure order. As the sunlight falls on the earth, a small percentage is used by plants for photosynthesis. Let us say that a blade of grass gains 10% of the sunlight's energy. A grasshopper comes along and munches on the blade; the energy transferred is diminished by 10%. A mouse comes and nibbles on the grasshopper; the energy transferred is diminshed by 10% and so on. This is the major reason why a trophic pyramind can't have more than four trophic levels. There just isn't enough energy left when the hawk at the top of the food chain finally eats the snake that ate the mouse that ate the grass that got the sunlight.

Most of this energy is lost in either cellular respiration or heat. This is similar to the example of the car driving along, where the only a bit of the gas might be used for actually moving the car, and the rest is used to combat friction and make heat and noise.

But I digress. This video is pretty cool.

Posted at 01:54PM Oct 22, 2008 by Asia Murphy in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]

Entropy examples and songs

This video gives three classic examples of what it means whenever a system increases in entropy.  The first example is that of an egg falling and hitting the ground, the second example is of mixing salt and pepper, and the third example is of ice and water interacting.  In each example, a key concept is addressed and demonstrated.  I found it very easy to understand and I think it will help me remember these properties in the future.

I also found a really funny video about entropy that makes some valid points, and is also in the form of a song.  It covers the general ideas and concepts of entropy, and it's entertaining at the same time!

Posted at 08:52PM Oct 21, 2008 by Molly Wright in MediaHunt3  |  Comments[0]