Entropy in a Molecule of DNA

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Entropy is part of our daily lives that that's certainly true. So can I just ask you a bit more about this notion because I understand how it works for a box of gas molecules let's say. But I start to run into difficulties of understanding when I think about for example the entropy in a molecule of DNA. It seems to me that the number of microscopic states that correspond to that macroscopic state there's more than one set of numbers if you like. The laws of physics make certain features macroscopically observable to us and not others.

Our observable universe started out in a highly non-generic state, one of very low entropy, and disorderliness has been growing ever since. How, then, can we account for the appearance of complex systems such as organisms and biospheres? The answer is that very low-entropy states typically appear simple, and high-entropy states also appear simple, and complexity can emerge along the road in between. Today’s podcast is more of a discussion than an interview, in which behavioral neuroscientist Kate Jeffery and I discuss how complexity emerges through cosmological and biological evolution. As someone on the biological side of things, Kate is especially interested in how complexity can build up and then catastrophically disappear, as in mass extinction events.

There were some audio-quality issues with the remote recording of this episode, but loyal listeners David Gennaro and Ben Cordell were able to help repair it. I think it sounds pretty good!

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Kate Jeffery received her Ph.D. in behavioural neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh. She is currently a professor in the Department of Behavioural Neuroscience at University College, London. She is the founder and Director of the Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience at UCL.

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