Maxwell’s demon experiment could be made real without breaking physics

A thought experiment called Maxwell’s demon, long hypothesised to break the laws of physics, could be made using simple electronic devices at macroscopic scales – without upsetting the laws of thermodynamics

By Leah Crane

A 155-year-old thought experiment about the laws of thermodynamics could help shed light on how biological cells process fluctuations in their environments.

Maxwell’s demon is a thought experiment first proposed by Scottish mathematician James Clerk Maxwell in 1867. He imagined a tiny demon controlling a gate between two chambers full of gas. The demon then opens the door to allow fast-moving gas particles into one chamber and slow-moving ones into the other. Because the speed of the constituent particles determines a gas’s …