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Maxwell's artificial demon

21.01.2016

Physicists from Finland, Russia (Ivan Khaimovich from the Institute of Physics of Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and the United States have created an autonomous artificial Maxwell demon.

A thought experiment with a demon was proposed in 1867 by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. The scientist thus wanted to draw attention to the apparent paradox of the second postulate of thermodynamics, according to which the entropy of a closed system does not decrease.

In his thought experiment, Maxwell took a closed gas cylinder and divided it into two parts by an inner wall with a small hatch. By opening and closing it, Maxwell's demon separates fast (hot) and slow (cold) particles.

This leads to the fact that a temperature difference is created in the gas cylinder, and heat is transferred from a colder gas to a hotter one, which violates the second law of thermodynamics. The paradox was resolved by the physicist Leo Szilard in 1929.

The system created by scientists is based on a single-electron transistor, which forms a small copper island connected to two superconducting aluminum leads. Maxwell's demon controls the movement of electrons through a transistor.

When a particle is on an island, the demon attracts it with a positive charge. If an electron leaves the island, the demon repels it with a negative charge, which leads to a decrease in the temperature of the system.

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Between layers of biodegradable fabric, Marianne placed flower seeds. These masks cost $3,5 each.

“Anyone who uses masks with such a beautiful name will be able to grow flowers on a balcony, in a garden or in a planter in a room without spending money on purchasing seedlings or seeds,” the author of the idea wrote.

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