The second law of thermodynamics has for the first time been shown not to hold for microscopic systems, which could place a fundamental limit on miniaturization.

“Their results are also in good agreement with predictions of the ‘fluctuation theorem,’ developed … to reconcile the second law with the behaviour of particles at microscopic scales.

“The results imply that the fluctuation theorem has important ramifications for nanotechnology and indeed for how life itself functions,” claim the researchers at the Australian National University.