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Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis

Posted by Soulskill on from the it's-not-easy-being-green dept.

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.'"

8 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. And here's the link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.physorg.com/news184423418.html

  2. Re:Biodiversity Is Priceless by gregor-e · · Score: 4, Insightful

    99.999% of all species that ever existed are now extinct. Do you believe that 99.999% of all useful coping mechanisms are gone? And what does any of this have to do with the finding of quantum entanglement in photosynthetic systems?

  3. Yet another nail in the coffin of vegetarianism by Draek · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:Yet another nail in the coffin of vegetarianism by maxwell+demon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually you can also eat fruits: While the fruits are from plants, they are explicitly produced by the plants to be eaten (because that way they spread). Just don't eat or destroy the seed. Throw them on earth, so they have a chance to grow.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  4. I'm a meat-eater, but. . . by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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

  5. Re:Biodiversity Is Priceless by Hal_Porter · · Score: 4, Funny

    If Shrodinger's cat were the last cat then cats would be in a superposed state of extinct and not extinct so long as no additional biodiversity research was done.

    I think he's trying to say we shouldn't do the research, but maybe I've misunderstood.

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  6. Re:Biodiversity Is Priceless by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Humans haven't yet made as big a mess as photosynthetic plants did 2.4 billion years ago.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  7. Re:Biodiversity Is Priceless by Alef · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess if you were living your entire life inside the Library of Alexandria, you would be burning books for fuel. Especially the "useless" ones written in a foreign language that you don't understand.

    I think humans are blinded by the extraordinary diversity around us to the degree that we fail to realize how unique it is. And our life spans are too short for us to grasp what we are doing. We destroy things that have taken hundreds of millions of years to form in a generation without even reflecting on it. From a geological perspective, we are likely at par with some of the large impact events.