From: pv@gagme.chi.il.us (Paul Vader)
Subject: Entropy isn't what it used to be
Summary: What I did while my site was down
Originator: pv@gagme
Keywords: sci.skeptic, entropy, vacuum, Maxwell
Organization: Inline Software Creations
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 22:31:11 GMT

Dr. Andrew Laughton carefully adjusted the scope of the field to encompass
the bell jar, in which he had placed a section of rusted car bumper. The jar
was covered with instrumentation; thermometers, light meters, a Gas
Chromatograph, and ultra-high speed film and video cameras. The subtle
scratching of chart recorders permeated the quiet laboratory.

Dr. Laughton activated the field at its lowest setting. At this level
nothing should change (literally forever as long as the field was on), and
as expected the instruments recorded no variation in the test object or its
immediate environment. Encouraged, he turned the field up to full power. The
jar frosted over almost immediately, as the temperature within quickly
dropped 50 degrees Fahrenheit. "Damn! So much for the film record," Dr.
Laughton growled, surprised that he hadn't thought of this side effect. He
shut down the field and unsealed the Bell Jar. Inside was a piece of steel
as bright and perfect as the day it was cast. "Eureka!" He shouted, because
this is the type of thing you're supposed to say when you're a scientist, "I
have reversed entropy in a closed system!"

Still, the lack of a film record would cause problems. Nobody would believe
that the rusty bumper hadn't been switched while the jar was obscured like
that. It is at moments like this that great acts of courage (such as Jonas
Salk injecting himself with his vaccine), and great acts of stupidity (pick
almost any pre-1900 attempt at flight), are performed in the name of
science. Unfortunately, this was to be one of the latter.

Realizing he needed something really dramatic, Dr. Laughton refocused the
field scope to cover the entire lab. He positioned the cameras and
instruments to point throughout the room. He then switched on his personal
tape recorder and re-activated the field. It totally slipped his mind that
the strength was still set to full.

"Strange," he dictated, "I seem to be feeling no ill effects, though it is
getting slightly colder in the lab, and I'm experiencing a somewhat
light-headed feeling. Perhaps I'm over-excited." He walked over to the chart
recorders, noticing that he hadn't heard them since he switched on the
field. The needles were flipping back and forth across the paper, but they
frictionlessly glided over it leaving no mark. The electronic equipment
wasn't faring much better. Most of it simply refused to work. "Of course!",
Dr. Laughton exclaimed, "Electronic stuff, err, equipment relies on
auntie-trees, Entropy! to work. At least the wheeled Jenny-baiter is
heeled!". He hadn't realized how dizzy he had gotten while he was
distracted. He tried to say "I'd better turn the field off," but all that
came out was a harsh strangled whisper. His ears started popping, and he
couldn't seem to keep his eyes from drying out, no matter how much he
blinked. A few inches from the field controls he passed out, saving him from
feeling the discomfort of being crushed when the walls imploded. A half-ton
chunk of ceiling smashed the field generator, and air flooded back from the
far corner of the room, where it had all collected while the field was
turned on.

Somewhere, Maxwell's demon was smiling. PV
-- 
Paul Vader           Systems Analyst, semi-lurker, Rollerblader,
pv@gagme.chi.il.us   ex-Zen poet, and part-time .sig deconstructionist