The idea is based on entropy, an incredibly important term which - just for kicks - has at least three different definitions. You can simply understand entropy as a measure of irreversible changes: you can move a vase back and forth between coffee table and shelf forever, but you can't undo dropping it. Entropy measures this kind of change in which energy wasted, the number of possible configurations, or the simple number of un-undoable anythings increases. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that this value is always increasing - and in combination with the fact there's a finite amount of energy, it indicates that everything will eventually run down and stop. Or we'll have to feed the entire universe through a singularity (as in the Big Crunch) and start all over again - either way, the old universe is screwed.
Now Dr Charles Lineweaver and PhD student Charles Egan of the Australian National University have calculated how much entropy there is to "use up" - and it's a mere 10^104 Joules per Kelvin. Sure, a hundred thousand million billion trillion quadrillion quintillion sextillion septillion J/K might sound like an awful lot of whatever-that-is, but it's the ultimate finite supply. Forget oil - once you're out of entropy the game is well and truly over.
Of course this all about as relevant as ADD-afflicted mayflies calculating the thermonuclear lifespan of the sun, but it's fascinating in implication. The philosophical effects of their being a hard physical limit on how much can actually be done in any one universe are mind-blowing, as well as somehow making Dancing With The Stars an even worse affront to existence than it already was.
Your life is limited, fuel is finite, and even the ability to act itself is now a non-renewable resource. So make yourself worthwhile!
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