  Quantum effects of bulk matter, in the form of massive fermions, are
considered in the Randall-Sundrum $AdS_5$ brane world at finite temperatures.
The thermodynamic energy (modulus potential) is calculated in the limiting case
when the temperature is low, and is shown to possess a minimum, thus suggesting
a new dynamical mechanism for stabilizing the brane world. Moreover, these
quantum effects may solve the hierarchy scale problem, at quite low
temperatures. The present note reviews essentially the fermion-related part of
the recent article by I. Brevik, K. A. Milton, S. Nojiri, and S. D. Odintsov,
hep-th/0010205 .
