On an episode of ID the Future, University of Pittsburgh physicist David Snoke discusses biological information from the perspective of physics — which is different, of course, from that of biology.

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For biological “information,” Dr. Snoke suggests “communication” may be the more accurate term. Measuring that, whatever you call it, may be thought of as counting the number of ways a system can be broken. Picture opening up a car engine, or a cell in your body. There are many ways to break it so that it ceases functioning. Now picture a pile of garbage. It’s pretty hard to think of a way you could “break” that!

Image credit: CZmarlin (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.