Can Future Civilizations Harness Entropy to Survive in an Expanding Universe?

AI Thread Summary
Future civilizations may face challenges due to the universe's expansion and increasing entropy, as described by the second law of thermodynamics. There is speculation about whether advanced societies could harness dissipated energy to survive in this expanding cosmos. The concept of an "entropy gap" suggests that as the universe expands, civilizations might exploit this gap for energy utilization. Concerns about the sun's life cycle and its impact on humanity's future are raised, questioning whether humans will endure long enough to develop such technologies. Ultimately, the discussion reflects on the balance between optimism for future survival and the harsh realities of cosmic challenges.
hammertime
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I have a question regarding the future of civilization in the universe. As we all know, the universe is expanding and, as per the 2nd law of thermodynamics, entropy is increasing. However, could a future civilization find a way to harness used energy (ie heat dissipated from resistors)?

Also, I read somewhere that the maximum possible entropy in the universe rises as the universe expands, and that this creates a growing 'entropy gap' between the current entropy at any time in the universe and the maximum possible entropy at the same time. Could a civilization make use of this to survive?

Thanks.
 
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Shouldn't we worry about our sun and it's life cycle or even if humans will make it to see the drawn out death (our sun would expand taking the planets, or at least most of them with it) I mean, if we get past surviving without our sun and our planet, then who knows how far we could make it.
 
Zenparticle said:
Shouldn't we worry about our sun and it's life cycle or even if humans will make it to see the drawn out death (our sun would expand taking the planets, or at least most of them with it) I mean, if we get past surviving without our sun and our planet, then who knows how far we could make it.
That aim might be a little optimistic, Professor Martin Rees, the British Astronomer Royal, asks Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?.

If we do then "who knows how far we could make it"?
 
Last edited:
Garth said:
That aim might be a little optimistic, Professor Martin Rees, the British Astronomer Royal, asks Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?.

If we do then "who knows how far we could make it"?
if we can survive something as devastating as the death of our sun, then we would be able to do just about anything, including; having a replicator like the one star trek , warp speed and Data- So, right It's unlikely we will even be around long enough to have a need to
find a way to harness used energy (ie heat dissipated from resistors)?
 

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