Functional Information

A team of scientists and philosophers have published a paper in PNAS, positing that non-biological systems may be influenced by a sort of evolutionary pressure that coaxes them into more "functional systems" over time.

In other words: hydrogen and helium have come together into the nearly 120 elements (that we know about so far) because of an unknown law of nature that selects for fitness in physical systems, even non-biological systems (though this concept would theoretically be the underpinning of biological evolution, as well, since biology is inherently informed by physics).

The researchers positing this new physical law have suggested that there may be different selection mechanisms for isotopes, minerals, supernovas, and everything else, but that a bias toward functional information—more complexity over time, basically—may be consistent across the board (whatever "complexity" might mean in a given context).