In the ever-evolving tapestry of human knowledge and scientific discovery, occasional leaps occur that redefine our understanding of the natural world. One such momentous stride could be here, encapsulated in a groundbreaking paper that unearths what scientists are boldly terming “a missing law of nature”!
The newly conceptualised law, for the very first time, recognises an important norm within the natural world’s workings. In essence, it states that complex natural systems evolve to states of greater patterning, diversity and complexity. In other words, evolution is not limited to life on Earth, it also occurs in other massively complex systems, from planets and stars to atoms, minerals and more.
The intellectual architects of this revolutionary shift comprise a diverse assembly of nine scholars. This collective, spanning the prestigious halls of the Carnegie Institution for Science, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Cornell University, unites the rigour of scientists, astrobiologists, data scientists, mineralogists and theoretical physicists, along with the philosophical acumen of thinkers from the University of Colorado.
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Evolution: A common feature of the natural world’s complex systems
This groundbreaking concept adds a new chapter to the annals of science, presenting a macroscopic law — a law of nature that describes and explains the phenomena witnessed in the everyday natural world. In doing so, it recognises evolution as a common thread that weaves through the intricate tapestry of complex natural systems.
To begin with, these complex systems are characterised as follows:
- They are formed from many different components that can be arranged and rearranged repeatedly (such as atoms, molecules or cells)
- They are subject to natural processes that cause countless different arrangements to be formed
- Only a small fraction of all these configurations survive in a process called “selection for function”
Regardless of whether the system is living or non-living, evolution occurs when a novel configuration works well and function improves.
“In this new paper, we consider evolution in the broadest sense — change over time — which subsumes Darwinian evolution based upon the particulars of ‘descent with modification’,” said Carnegie astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, first author of the study.
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“The universe generates novel combinations of atoms, molecules, cells, etc. Those combinations that are stable and can go on to engender even more novelty will continue to evolve. This is what makes life the most striking example of evolution, but evolution is everywhere.”
This new ‘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”. Central to this novel natural law is the concept of ‘selection for function’.
Selection for function
In the realm of biology, Charles Darwin famously equated function with the essence of survival — the ability to live long enough to produce fertile offspring. The new study broadens this perspective by recognising that nature operates on at least three kinds of fundamental functions.
Stability, the most fundamental function, ensures stable arrangements of atoms or molecules persist. But nature also champions dynamic systems fuelled by a constant energy supply. The most intriguing of these functions, however, is novelty—the tendency of evolving systems to perpetually explore new configurations that sometimes lead to astonishing new behaviours or characteristics.
These new characteristics are instrumental in the evolutionary journey, where life continually adapts and diversifies. From the emergence of photosynthesis as single cells harnessed light energy to the evolution of multicellular organisms such as ourselves and complex behaviours such as swimming, walking, flying, and thinking, nature has repeatedly rewarded novelty.
But evolution isn’t confined to the biological domain. It extends to the mineral kingdom as well. Earth’s minerals, which initially numbered just around 20 at the dawn of our solar system, have now burgeoned to nearly 6,000. The evolution of minerals intertwined with that of life as well, with life using the minerals for shells, teeth and bones. Overall, this astonishing diversity is a result of complex physical, chemical and ultimately biological processes unfolding over 4.5 billion years.
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Moving beyond our planet, this profound natural law also has implications in the cosmos. While the birth of stars began with just two primary elements, hydrogen and helium, the early stars employed these basic building blocks to forge heavier chemical elements. Subsequent generations of stars, in turn, built upon this newfound diversity, giving rise to nearly 100 elements in the periodic table.
This universal law of evolution redefines our perception of nature. It emphasises that the process of evolution extends far beyond the boundaries of life, reaching down to the molecular and atomic structures that form the bedrock of our existence. It has drawn us closer to understanding the intricate forces shaping our world, reaffirming that evolution is the common thread that weaves through the tapestry of the universe, connecting all aspects of existence.
NOTE – This article was originally published in weather and can be viewed here
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