Slashdot Mirror
Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis
medcalf writes "Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley have experimentally shown that plants use quantum entanglement in photosynthesis. Researcher Mohan Sarovar said, 'The lessons we’re learning about the quantum aspects of light harvesting in natural systems can be applied to the design of artificial photosynthetic systems that are even better. The organic structures in light harvesting complexes and their synthetic mimics could also serve as useful components of quantum computers or other quantum-enhanced devices, such as wires for the transfer of information.' According to the article, 'What may prove to be this study's most significant revelation is that contrary to the popular scientific notion that entanglement is a fragile and exotic property, difficult to engineer and maintain, the Berkeley researchers have demonstrated that entanglement can exist and persist in the chaotic chemical complexity of a biological system.'"
...But this is really old news, and seems to only be showing up now because Berkeley did it. Link coming soon...
TFA is very sparse on details, but has interesting implications.
The difficulty in achieving entanglement comes from the system being perturbed at random from thermal vibrations. It's not clear in the articlehow this is achieved in photosynthesis, but if quantum entanglement can be preserved at ambient temperatures this could have awesome implications for quantum computers.
Not needing cryogenic conditions would be a huge step towards a desktop quantum computer.
The real question is: can it be used as a sex aid? Because then you can make some serious money on the Internet.
Bibo Ergo Sum.
This research shows a broader point we should learn: every species that we extinct takes with it to oblivion some mechanisms for coping with the world that we could use ourselves. Not enough coping mechanisms to keep it fit to survive in the world we've made, but many mechanisms that go down with it.
Of course many species go extinct independent of human action (though with human action so pervasive, what species is entirely untouched by it?), but there's little we can do about them. The ones we make extinct through carelessness, wrong priorities and other waste are lost to us in our efforts to remain fit ourselves in the environment we're making.
--
make install -not war
I always heard that photosynthesis in plants relied on quantum tunneling, not quantum entanglement.
Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
http://www.physorg.com/news184423418.html
Think of the light harvesting molecule as the first steel ball. Think of the molecule in the reaction center as the last ball.
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/2015242
Do cows use quantum entanglement? no. Do sheep? no. Plants do. Why would I eat the *smarter* lifeform?
In fact, I'd celebrate with a burger if it weren't for the fact that lettuces are a plant. Anybody know of a meat-based replacement for a plant-friendly person such as myself?
No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
Well, not to me. I've known about this action for a couple of years. It's highly linked to visible-wavelength irradiation at 420nm and 460nm, it's like an Emerson Effect for the blue wavelengths.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Animals have brains, right?
If quantum entanglement doesn't turn out to be a vital component in neurological science, then I'll be a fish on a loaf.
-FL
Sorry, gotta run. My data is ripe.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
This finding seems to give support to the Orch-OR (orchestrated objective reduction) theory of quantum consciousness proposed by Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose. One of the main objections to the theory is that quantum coherence could not be sustained in the warm biological environment for sufficient duration. If quantum entaglement is a normal feature of photosynthesis, it's less of a stretch to believe that quantum coherence could be one of the mechanisms to give rise to consciousness in higher lifeforms.
We need to know how to digest bamboo.
The most interesting aspect of this from my point of view is that it points towards such effects being taken advantage of by other biological systems, such as brains. Many objections to Penrose/Hameroff/Harris-Walker type physics being important in brain processes (and hence conscious activity) are based on coherence being hard if not impossible to achieve in "noisy" biological systems. I think perhaps these objections may be premature.
Another Slashdot summary fail. The paper shows that entanglement can exist in photosystems of plants at high temperatures and a fundamentally noisy system, and is very exciting to note that.
It however, does not show that plants actually use the quantum entanglement in anyway. It may just be that the phenomenon is incidental and a result of the high-level organisation of the proteins in the photosystem without any implications for a plant or evolutionary pressure to select for it.
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
and now we know how the Verdani can communicate instantly across the universe....(pushes glasses back up)
She'll just take the info and run with it to sell "The Secret II"
What a load of nonsense the entire article is. There is no such thing as quantum entanglement as physicists describe it.
http://cogprints.org/4581/
http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/overview.html
http://www.neuroquantology.com/journal/index.php/nq/search/authors/view?firstName=Huping&middleName=&lastName=Hu&affiliation=
Animals have brains, right?
If quantum entanglement doesn't turn out to be a vital component in neurological science, then I'll be a fish on a loaf.
-FL
http://www.neuroquantology.com/journal/index.php/nq/index
the Berkeley researchers have demonstrated that entanglement can exist and persist in the chaotic chemical complexity of a biological system.'"
There are those who argue that there is nothing inherently chaotic about such systems in the natural world - especially in plant life. I think they are called biologists. I think part of the stuff they do is, complexity aside (or lack thereof depending on what aspect of the biological system they are analyzing), they map out these repeatable, oft-times duplicatable (scientifically) processes to show that there actually isnt anything chaotic about it, but that instead they are rather "organized" chemical interactions and processes - hence the reason a tree grows a certain way, and the tree next to it, if exposed to the same environmental conditions grows within those same chemical parameters.
I wonder if the quantum entanglement aspect (or lack of understanding of certain processes) is the reason for them claiming anything is chaotic in the systems they are analyzing? Or perhaps they dont understand the meaning of the words "chaos" and "chaotic" - or are using a different, non-mainstream definition... complex is not necessary equal to chaotic even though appearances (or understanding) of such may be deceiving.
Of course, I have not taken a biology class in many years... so it is quite possible my understanding is lacking, and these complex biological systems do indeed act in a chaotic manner that so wonderfully coincidentally still comes to the same chemical and biological conclusions.
StarTrekPhase2 - The Five Year Mission Continues!
... quantum computing might be as slow as watching grass grow?
Have gnu, will travel.
So, it's a moot point that plants have a basis for instantaneous quantum-entangled communication. Using the sun for time-shifted synch, perhaps. Or general celestial radiation, perhaps. After all, if it's there, why wouldn't natuire use it? And plants are very much the specialized, efficient celestial radiation collectors. Now, if you can collect. Why not...
Specifically, bamboo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo which can grow 60cm in a day. The summary seems to imply that biological systems are simple compared to high tech artificial systems. I might be biased because I am a microbiologist, but nothing humans have ever constructed have even remotely approached the complexity and efficiency of biological systems. For example, have a look at the bacterial outboard motor (flagellum) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellum. Just look at it. Isn't it beautiful, complex yet efficient at what it does. Considering that at bacterial scale, the liquid medium surrounding it is like molasses, makes it more incredible.
-wooosh- interface with my brain waaah!!
I can imagine next generation of computers, dna transistors, chlorophyll buses...
And the next Microsoft's motto: "Did you water your computer today?" (tm)
Our own cellular functions - synaptic functions all use quantum interactions / entanglement.
Just thought I'd put that out there.
Its not the years, its the mileage
What happens in the lab is a very special situation that allows us to observe naturally occuring phenomena. What rarely is mentioned in the articles about particle physics discoveries, quantum entangled photosynthesis being the exception, is that the phenomena that has been discovered is happening all over the place, all the time. The lab allows us to see what has already been going on for a long time. A great example is the discovery of the neutrino. Giant pools of water buried deep in a mountain laced with scintillators, allow us to detect the neutrinos. Yet, neutrinos are passing straight through us and the earth all the time from the fusion process in the sun.
I think that this discovery is the first in a long series to show that quantum entanglement has common uses by life, and that life can use it to its advantage.
The diversity and expression of human opinion is essential to human survival.
...Plants are the smartest forms of life on this planet. They made the planet what it is today, and the pretty much own us as compost. On the other hand, I'd prefer to be a vegetarian.
The diversity and expression of human opinion is essential to human survival.
actually wiki says it reaches a maximum growth rate of 99cm/hr, or a maximum amount of growth in 24hrs of 121cm's. So its doing most of that 121cm's in a small part of the day. If it was grown in hydroponic conditions with elevated CO2 (which is a waste product) and possibly using lenses or mirrors to increase the intensity of the light, or some energy storage mechanism to provide 24hr light, who knows what its maximum rate of growth could be?
there is the bamboo car, the bamboo bike, and other ingenious uses have been invented. It also makes very attractive bongs, the outside can be given a mottled pattern with a blow torch and then lacquered. i once knew a master bamboo bong maker who was truly an artist.