The correct answer is the power of the scientific method. In the science fiction short story "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang, the author describes the adventures of a scientist who is a member of a race of air-driven mechanical beings. During the development of the history the scientist hypothesizes that all computation and time will cease if the air pressure is equilibrated in the environment. This hypothesis is confirmed through experimentation, and the author concludes that equilibrium is essential in all the universe.Ted Chiang won the Hugo and British Science Fiction Awards, for this short story.
