Alex Wissner-Gross of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US and Cameron Freer from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, have now put together a mathematical model that ties this causal entropy idea - evident in a range of recent studies - into a single framework.

BBC: Entropy law linked to intelligence, say researchers

Work on the machine was carried out by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in the US, and Seoul National University in South Korea.

BBC: Pentagon helps build Meshworm reconnaissance robot

It is hoped the e-university will meet the challenge of US universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford in California, which offer virtual degrees.

BBC: Universities told to catch the e-wave

The rival edX online university project on the US east coast has been funded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard and is not for profit.

BBC: Online university giant gets bigger

The spaceman was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and completed much of his education in England (Harrow and Cambridge University) before moving to the US, where he did a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

BBC: 'UK spaceman' Nicholas Patrick honoured