New research predicting a future information catastrophe has been published in a scientific journal. The research also suggests information may be the fifth state of matter.
Researcher Melvin Vopson, in a new study, indicated that the total weight of information could eclipse the mass of planet earth. His predictions projected that by the year 2245, more than half the earth’s weight will be as a result of information.
The information catastrophe predictions were made by Vopson, by using the thermodynamics principle proposed by physicist Rolf Landauer in 1961, that tried to explain the relationship between bits- the smallest quantity of data- and energy.
Information catastrophe predictions
Vopsin argued in his theory that energy used to create one bit of data is equivalent to energy in an atom. His study also predicted that, at the current rate of growth of new information, which is ranging from 3 to 20 percent annually, he expected the number of bits to equal the number of atoms on earth by 2170. By his estimation, the total energy consumption at that time for the information domain only will be more than the current usage of energy by all industries and personal usage globally.
Vopsin, in his theory, also challenged the elemental understanding of matter which consists of solid, liquid, gas, and plasma by claiming that information is able to move through states of mass and energy. This fifth state of matter, Vopsin said, uses energy that can be equated to mass.
The research, which was published in the journal AIP Advances, contained theories that Vopsin made by himself in 2019. And although everything in the scientific paper is currently a theory, Vopsin said that he hoped
In his abstract, Vopsin expressed concern on the impeding information catastrophe and equipped it to the current challenges such as climate change, health, energy and security, which continue to devastate the planet. It stated that the researchers estimate pointed to another singularity event for our planet, called the Information Catastrophe.
