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Universe Has 100x More Entropy Than We Thought

Posted by kdawson on from the clean-up-your-room-that'll-help dept.

eldavojohn writes "Previous estimates are now thought to skimp on the entropy of the observable universe. The researchers contend that super-massive black holes are the largest contributor of entropy. Since they contribute two orders of magnitude more than previously thought, the total of all the observable universe is correspondingly higher. The paper highlights (in gruesome detail) new issues that arise with these new calculations — like estimating us a little bit closer to heat death (moving entropy totals from 10^102 to 10^104 out of a maximum of 10^122)."

8 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. Heat Death by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a link for anyone curious about the Heat Death of the Universe concept

    1. Re:Heat Death by SlashdotOgre · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Coincidentally, the Ask Slashdot regarding SciFi works for students lead me to Isaac Asimov's cool short story "The Last Question" (http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html which has an interesting perspective on this...

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      Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
  2. Fourth Law by T.E.D. · · Score: 5, Funny

    I propose a Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: There's more entropy than you think there is.

  3. discovery by unjedai · · Score: 5, Funny

    Universe Has 100x More Entropy Than We Thought

    Scientists must have discovered my daughters room.

    1. Re:discovery by royallthefourth · · Score: 5, Funny

      Universe Has 100x More Entropy Than We Thought

      Scientists must have discovered my daughters room.

      No, but the football team sure has!

  4. we're doomed anyway by prgrmr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Because of Neutron decay we've only 10^49 years anyway.

  5. Re:Excellent! by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, it merely reaches a state of equilibrium, so it never fires.

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    http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
  6. Re:Any astrophysics geeks out there by ArcCoyote · · Score: 5, Funny

    being haughty to AC is like shouting at a tree because a squirrel annoyed you.