SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 27, 2023--

The viral TikTok color trend categorizes special people in your life into colors by analyzing the traits of your relationship with them

A group of scientists and philosophers claim to have identified a “missing law of nature”, in a discovery which has huge implications for our understanding of how, basically, everything works. Most of us are familiar with the names – if not the intricacies – of many of the physical laws which govern the world and beyond, such as gravity and thermodynamics. And yet, no established physical law has been able to describe the behaviours of countless complex systems that exist across the universe – until now. In a paper published in the PNAS journal on 16 October, a multidisciplinary team from some of the US’s top institutes and universities, unveiled a new law claiming to do just that. In a nutshell, their law states that evolution is not limited to life on Earth, it also occurs in other massively complex systems – from planets to atoms. This means that these systems naturally “evolve” to states of greater diversity, and complexity. In other words, the researchers found evolution to be a common feature of the natural world's complex systems which, according to the Carnegie Institution for Science, comprise the following characteristics: “They are formed from many different components, such as atoms, molecules, or cells, that can be arranged and rearranged repeatedly “Are subject to natural processes that cause countless different configurations to be formed.” Only a small fraction of these configurations survive via a process of natural selection called “selection for function”. According to the researchers, regardless of whether the system is living or nonliving, when a new configuration works and function improves, evolution occurs. The authors' new law – which they have christened "the Law of Increasing Functional Information" – states that the system will evolve "if many different configurations of the system undergo selection for one or more functions." "An important component of this proposed natural law is the idea of 'selection for function,'" the study’s lead author, astrobiologist Dr Michael L. Wong, explained. The team’s research builds on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which suggests the function exists to ensure the “survival of the fittest”. For their work, Dr Wong and his team expanded on this perspective, pointing to the existence of three types of this selection for function in nature. The first, most basic type, they claim, is stability – the stable arrangements of atoms or molecules which are selected to continue. Second, are dynamic systems which are selected for their ongoing supplies of energy. And the third, and most intriguing, function is "novelty" – the tendency of evolving systems to explore new configurations which can lead to surprising new behaviours or characteristics. Novelties are, ironically, nothing new. Indeed, life’s evolutionary history is rich with examples: photosynthesis evolved when single cells learned to harness light energy; multicellular life evolved when cells learned to cooperate; and species evolved thanks to advantageous new behaviours such as walking and thinking. The same type of evolution happens in the mineral kingdom, as the Carnegie Institution for Science notes in a release published by Phys.org. Indeed, Earth's minerals, which began with about 20 at the dawn of our solar system, now number almost 6,000 known today. This is thanks to the ever more complex physical, chemical, and biological processes which have occurred over the past 4.5 billion years. The paper also notes that just two major elements – hydrogen and helium – formed the first stars shortly after the big bang. Those earliest stars then used this hydrogen and helium to create around 20 heavier chemical elements, which was built upon by the next generation of stars. "Charles Darwin eloquently articulated the way plants and animals evolve by natural selection, with many variations and traits of individuals and many different configurations," co-author and research lead Robert M. Hazen explained. "We contend that Darwinian theory is just a very special, very important case within a far larger natural phenomenon. “The notion that selection for function drives evolution applies equally to stars, atoms, minerals, and many other conceptually equivalent situations where many configurations are subjected to selective pressure." The new law has a number of exciting implications, including a deeper understanding of how the Universe itself came to exist. It could also help explain how life differs from other complex evolving systems, and could help aid the search for life elsewhere. Furthermore, at a time when increasingly autonomous AI systems are of increasing concern, it’s very handy to have a law that characterises how both natural and symbolic systems evolve. It also offers insights into how we could artificially influence the rate of evolution of some systems which, again, could prove invaluable. The key point to remember, as Dr Wong put it, is that whilst life is the “most striking example of evolution”, it’s not the only one. Evolution, it transpires, is everywhere. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Delio, a South Korean digital-asset platform, said it has suspended customer deposit and withdrawals, becoming the second site

The Apex Legends Neon Network Collection Event, beginning on July 25, 2023, features a Valkyrie Prestige skin, multiple new Legendary skins, and a new Reward Shop.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 3, 2023--

Ernst & Young LLP is considering moving out of its London headquarters as staff increasingly work from home

Shares of Meta Platforms fall following a warning about weaker advertising demand, while IBM says a push into artificial intelligence is starting to pay off. Amazon.com reports earnings after the closing bell Thursday.

US chipmaker Micron said Friday it would invest more than $600 million in a packing and testing factory in northern China, less than a month after Beijing banned...

X owner Elon Musk is threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, claiming that the nonprofit organization's statements about rising hate speech on the social media platform have torpedoed X's advertising revenue.

Twitter has added video calling – and left it turned on by default. The feature is now being officially rolled out, Elon Musk confirmed. He said it was an “early version” of a tool he has been hinting at for a year. Video calls are part of Elon Musk’s plans to make Twitter, which he has renamed X, into the “everything app”, offering a wide array of different functionality. For now, video calls are limited to the iOS app, and appear to be rolling out slowly. But they are also switched on by default. The system means that all accounts are liable to receive calls from accounts you follow, or those run by people whose number you have in your address book. To be able to call someone, they must have sent at least one direct message to your account. Users have the option to change that setting, however, either to switch it off or to change who has the ability to make calls. From the direct message settings, users can either disable it entirely or change it so that they can receive calls from people in your address book, from people you follow, or from all “verified” users. Making phone calls is limited to premium subscribers, who pay the monthly subscription for what was once called Twitter Blue. It can be done by opening up the DM menu to start a conversation with someone. If the feature is enabled, then a phone icon should show within the direct message conversation, and tapping audio or video will start the relevant kind of call. Users will receive a notification that they are being called, and will get another telling them they missed the call if they do not pick up. Read More The Twitter app just went very, very strange TikTok prankster Mizzy arrested ‘on suspicion of perverting course of justice’ Study finds ‘deepfakes’ from Ukraine war undermining trust in conflict footage

Crypto fanatics have been pining for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund for a decade now. But as the applications