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information about information

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In the latest online poll of our Information about information project you told us that you'd like an answer to this question. We asked Seth Lloyd, an expert on information at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and here is an answer. We also bring you two related articles from FQXi who are our partners on this project. Happy reading!

There's no doubt that information is power, but could it be converted into physical energy you could heat a room with or run a machine on? In the 19th century James Clerk Maxwell invented a hypothetical being — a "demon" — that seemed to be able to do just that. The problem was that the little devil blatantly contravened the laws of physics. What is Maxwell's demon and how was it resolved?

What is information and how does it shape our reality?