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2. Definition of Life
The definition of life is a long-standing debate with no general scientific consensus to be expected any time soon. The underlying problem is that...
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4. Energy Sources and Life
An external energy source is a necessary condition for life, because living systems require a flow of energy to organize materials and maintain a low...
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5. Building Blocks of Life
Life is based on complex chemistry yet only a few of all the available elements participate in most life-supporting reactions on Earth: carbon,...
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8 Entropy Production of Atmospheric Heat Transport
We examine the rate of entropy produced by the atmospheric general circulation and the hypothesis that it adjusts itself towards a macroscopic state...
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10 Thermodynamics of the Ocean Circulation: A Global Perspective on the Ocean System and Living Systems
In this chapter, we investigate thermodynamics in a global-scale open ocean circulation and discuss the physical properties of “living systems”, that...
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16 Temperature, Biogenesis, and Biospheric Self-Organization
We argue that the biosphere has evolved deterministically as a selforganized system, given the initial conditions of the Sun-Earth system. With...
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18 Insights from Thermodynamics for the Analysis of Economic Processes
The laws of thermodynamics constrain transformation of materials and energy, and thus have implications for economic processes. This paper provides...
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1 Entropy Production by Earth System Processes
Degradation of energy to lower temperatures and the associated production of entropy is a general direction for Earth system processes, ranging from...
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15 Coupled Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere and Biosphere
Earth’s climate has remained conducive to life for more than 3.5 billion years, probably because of higher concentrations of CO2 and CH4 greenhouse...
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12 Entropy Production in the Planetary Context
In this paper I review some applications of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to planetary science. Of particular importance are the horizontal and...
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The Database of the Ornamental Stones of Piemonte (NW Italy) Hosted on a WebGIS Service
In Piemonte (north-western Italy), an intense extraction activity of ornamental stones widely used for historical buildings, developed throughout...
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3 Stumbling into the MEP Racket: An Historical Perspective
An historical tale is told of the author’s involvement with research on the possible application of a principle of maximum entropy production to...
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14 Biotic Entropy Production and Global Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions
Atmospheric conditions constrain biotic activity through incoming solar radiation, temperature, and soil water availability on land. At the same time...
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9 Water Vapor and Entropy Production in the Earth’s Atmosphere
This chapter investigates the production of entropy by moist processes in the Earth’s climate system. The atmospheric circulation can be considered...
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2 Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics in an Energy-Rich Universe
Free energy, the ability to do work, is the most universal currency known in the natural sciences. In an expanding, non-equilibrated Universe, it is...
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4 Maximum Entropy Production and Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
Over the last 30 years empirical evidence in favour of the Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle for non-equilibrium systems has been...
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13 The Free-Energy Transduction and Entropy Production in Initial Photosynthetic Reaction
Initial photosynthetic reactions in bacterial photosynthesis are modeled in this chapter as transitions among discrete states of integral membrane...
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17 Entropy and Gaia: Is There a Link Between MEP and Self-Regulation in the Climate System?
The Gaia hypothesis posits that the Earth’s climate is self-regulating, while the maximum entropy production (MEP) principle suggests that the...
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3. Lessons from the History of Life
The discussion of life on other worlds is inevitably qualified by the phrase, “life as we know it.” This customary and appropriate caution among...
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1. Introduction
Astrobiology studies the origin, evolution, distribution, and fate of life throughout the universe, with no direct evidence that life exists anywhere...