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Scientists have learned how the universe creates and modifies its systems.
There are many complex and constantly evolving systems in the universe, ranging from star growth to prebiotic chemistry. However, unlike many other physical phenomena, their variable nature has not yet been represented by a specific law.
This is the conclusion reached by an interdisciplinary team of scientists from the United States, including astrobiologists, philosophers, a mineralogist, a theoretical physicist, and a data scientist. In their article, they examine the" missing law " of nature.
According to the study, evolution in all its forms inevitably leads to greater ordering, diversity, and complexity in natural systems. Evolution is not limited to the Earth's biosphere; it also occurs in other complex systems, such as the Solar System, stars, atoms, and minerals.
"The universe creates new combinations of atoms, molecules, cells, and so on," says lead author Michael Wong, an astrobiologist at the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington. "Those combinations that are stable and can generate even more novelty will continue to evolve."
Scientists also describe how hydrogen and helium, the two most abundant elements at the time of the Big Bang, combined to form the first stars. By the end of its life, a star can create more than 100 elements with about 2,000 varieties of isotopes.
There is a huge variety of minerals on Earth, which arose from simple beginnings when the planet was formed billions of years ago. There are now more than 5,900 known mineral species on Earth that have become increasingly chemically complex as new life forms began releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
Wong and his team emphasize that the physical laws of motion, gravity, electromagnetism, and thermodynamics govern the functions of macroscopic natural systems in space and time. Therefore, it is logical to assume that there is a law of nature for evolution.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There are many complex and constantly evolving systems in the universe, ranging from star growth to prebiotic chemistry. However, unlike many other physical phenomena, their variable nature has not yet been represented by a specific law.
This is the conclusion reached by an interdisciplinary team of scientists from the United States, including astrobiologists, philosophers, a mineralogist, a theoretical physicist, and a data scientist. In their article, they examine the" missing law " of nature.
According to the study, evolution in all its forms inevitably leads to greater ordering, diversity, and complexity in natural systems. Evolution is not limited to the Earth's biosphere; it also occurs in other complex systems, such as the Solar System, stars, atoms, and minerals.
"The universe creates new combinations of atoms, molecules, cells, and so on," says lead author Michael Wong, an astrobiologist at the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington. "Those combinations that are stable and can generate even more novelty will continue to evolve."
Scientists also describe how hydrogen and helium, the two most abundant elements at the time of the Big Bang, combined to form the first stars. By the end of its life, a star can create more than 100 elements with about 2,000 varieties of isotopes.
There is a huge variety of minerals on Earth, which arose from simple beginnings when the planet was formed billions of years ago. There are now more than 5,900 known mineral species on Earth that have become increasingly chemically complex as new life forms began releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
Wong and his team emphasize that the physical laws of motion, gravity, electromagnetism, and thermodynamics govern the functions of macroscopic natural systems in space and time. Therefore, it is logical to assume that there is a law of nature for evolution.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
