英语阅读：Lifeisinevitableconsequence英语阅读：LifeisinevitableconsequenceofphysicsAfewyearsback,aremarkablenewhypothesismadeitswayintothescientificzeitgeist—namely,thatlifeisaninevitableconsequenceofphysics.Theauthorofthisconcept,anassociateprofessorofbiophysicsatMITnamedJeremyEngland,hasnowpublishedthefirstmajorpaperstestingoutthisidea,andit’slookinglikehemightberightonthemoney.England’shypothesisisakeybridgebetweenphysicsandbiology.Althoughit’snotyetconclusivelyproven,itpotentiallyholdsthekeytoansweringoneofthegreatestquestionsofall:Wheredidwecomefrom?Here’swhathisworkisarguing.Thankstothesecondlawofthermodynamics,theuniverseisheadingtowardsastateofcompletestructuraldisorder.It’stumblingtowardsastatewhereeverythingisessentiallythesamenomatterhowtheconstituentpartsarearranged.Thisisknownas“maximumentropy”,whereeverythingonanenergylevelisbalanced,everywhere.Rightnow,though,therearepocketsoforder,oflowentropy–objectsandthingsthatcannotbeatomicallyrearrangedandstillbethesamething(planetsandlife,forexample).Theyaretheexceptionstoanincreasinglydisordereduniverse,somethingfirsthighlightedbySchrodinger’sseminal1944essayWhatIsLife?Thinkofapoolofwaterwiththreecolordyesdroppedinit.Initially,theyremainasseparatedotsfarapart,butovertime,thecolorsspreadout,mix,andintheend,there’sjustonesinglecolor.That’stheuniverse;thedots,inthiscase,canbepocketsofbiologicallife.Englandissuggestingthatbiologyarisesbecause,incertainenvironments–likeonplanets–wheretheenergybalanceissooutofwhack,physicsguaranteesthatatomsrearrangethemselvestobeabletodealwiththechaoticflowofenergy.Theseatomicstructuresjusthappentoresemblewhatwerefertoas“life”.AsEnglandfamouslysaidbackin2014:“Youstartwitharandomclumpofatoms,andifyoushinelightonitforlongenough,itshouldnotbesosurprisingthatyougetaplant.”Usingcutting-edgecomputersimulations,Englandandhiscolleaguesdumpedbasicchemicalcompoundsintoanearly-Earthlik