Slashdot Mirror


Possible Superconductivity In the Brain? (springer.com)

"The unprecedented power of the brain suggests that it may process information quantum-mechanically," according to a new research paper. Long-time Slashdot reader time961 writes: Pavlo Mikheenko, a superconductivity researcher at the University of Oslo, has published a paper in the Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism (abstract only; arxiv pre-print here) suggesting that microtubule structures in pig neurons exhibit evidence of superconductivity that could represent a mechanism for quantum computing performed by the brain to achieve the brain's phenomenal information processing power. The observed effects (at room temperature and standard atmospheric pressure) are claimed to indicate a critical temperature of 2022 +/- 157 K, far higher than the 135 K achieved in other materials under similar conditions.

Interesting, if true.

1 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Porcine aviation by TeknoHog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'll believe this when these superconducting pigs levitate above magnets.

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.