This serves as a crude model of entropy, Smolyaninov says, representing the thermodynamic arrow of time.

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He concedes that his "arrow of time" view is a minority one.

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The "arrow of time" is based on the notion that it is possible to use data from modern languages to trace their origins back 10, 000 years or even further.

WSJ: Study Points to a Single, Original Language for All Humans

But the latest Science paper "and our own observations suggest that it is possible to detect an arrow of time" underlying proto-human languages spoken more than 8, 000 years ago, said Murray Gell-Mann of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, who read the Science paper and supports it.

WSJ: Study Points to a Single, Original Language for All Humans

If time truly has an arrow, though, some of these shifts will occur at a different rate when going in one direction rather than the other.

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Hamilton replaced seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at the "Silver Arrow" team after the German legend retired for the second time at the end of last season.

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