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Adaptive quantum computation effect in bacterial photosynthesis?

10 points by haidut 17y ago

WilliamLP 17y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anderson_(writer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anderson_(writer) "[Mark Anderson] is a proponent of the Oxfordian theory that the Elizabethan court poet-playwright Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the works conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare." Also, Stuart Hameroff, cited in the part about quantum consciousness is a grade A crank. Listen to his presentation at the Beyond Belief conference if you don't believe me. He believes, among other things, that faster than light communication is responsible for the "paradox" that we apparently make certain decisions before we are consciously aware of having made them.
Eliezer 17y ago
No. Or rather, only in the same sense that quantum mechanics is the underlying level of organization for everything.
- cma 17y ago
  I don't think we know enough about photosynthesis to know whether that is the sense or not. http://www.scottaaronson.com/lightharvest.gif http://www.scottaaronson.com/lightharvest.gif Shown above is a light-harvesting molecule (image snagged from Alán’s slides), which apparently is efficient at concentrating light at its center for essentially the same reason the Childs et al. quantum walk reaches the target vertex exponentially faster than a classical walk: namely, because of destructive interference between the paths that point backward, toward the leaves. According to Alán, what plants do to harvest sunlight is not entirely unrelated either (it also involves quantum coherence), and fully understanding these mechanisms in quantum information terms might conceivably be useful in designing better solar cells.
  - goodside 17y ago
    cma: This article was originally posted with the title used by Discover, "Is Quantum Mechanics Controlling Your Thoughts?", and Eliezer's "No" was in response to that. PG changed the submitted headline after my earlier comment below.
caffeine 17y ago
At least this isn't that Law of Attraction garbage ... still, no. It's not.
TrevorJ 17y ago
I've often thought that TRUE free will can't be explained by our current understanding of chemistry and physics above the quantum level so I guess either it is an illusion, or it is derived someplace else.
goodside 17y ago
'Electrons moving through a leaf or a green sulfur bacterial bloom are effectively performing a quantum “random walk”—a sort of primitive quantum computation—to seek out the optimum transmission route for the solar energy they carry. “We have shown that this quantum random-walk stuff really exists,” Fleming says. “Have we absolutely demonstrated that it improves the efficiency? Not yet. But that’s our conjecture. And a lot of people agree with it.”' This the last paragraph in the article, which has the title "Is Quantum Mechanics Controlling Your Thoughts?". The fact that this isn't the first paragraph, beneath the headline "Scientist speculates adaptive quantum computation effect in bacterial photosynthesis" makes this a shining example of what's wrong with science journalism, and why everyone should stop reading it.
- pg 17y ago
  Fixed.
henryl 17y ago
I thought photosynthesis was amazingly inefficient compared to our best solar panels. http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7241e/w7241e05.htm http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7241e/w7241e05.htm

10 points by haidut 17y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anderson_(writer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anderson_(writer) "[Mark Anderson] is a proponent of the Oxfordian theory that the Elizabethan court poet-playwright Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the works conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare." Also, Stuart Hameroff, cited in the part about quantum consciousness is a grade A crank. Listen to his presentation at the Beyond Belief conference if you don't believe me. He believes, among other things, that faster than light communication is responsible for the "paradox" that we apparently make certain decisions before we are consciously aware of having made them.

Eliezer 17y ago

No. Or rather, only in the same sense that quantum mechanics is the underlying level of organization for everything.

cma 17y ago
I don't think we know enough about photosynthesis to know whether that is the sense or not. http://www.scottaaronson.com/lightharvest.gif http://www.scottaaronson.com/lightharvest.gif Shown above is a light-harvesting molecule (image snagged from Alán’s slides), which apparently is efficient at concentrating light at its center for essentially the same reason the Childs et al. quantum walk reaches the target vertex exponentially faster than a classical walk: namely, because of destructive interference between the paths that point backward, toward the leaves. According to Alán, what plants do to harvest sunlight is not entirely unrelated either (it also involves quantum coherence), and fully understanding these mechanisms in quantum information terms might conceivably be useful in designing better solar cells.
- goodside 17y ago
  cma: This article was originally posted with the title used by Discover, "Is Quantum Mechanics Controlling Your Thoughts?", and Eliezer's "No" was in response to that. PG changed the submitted headline after my earlier comment below.

caffeine 17y ago

At least this isn't that Law of Attraction garbage ... still, no. It's not.

TrevorJ 17y ago

I've often thought that TRUE free will can't be explained by our current understanding of chemistry and physics above the quantum level so I guess either it is an illusion, or it is derived someplace else.

goodside 17y ago

'Electrons moving through a leaf or a green sulfur bacterial bloom are effectively performing a quantum “random walk”—a sort of primitive quantum computation—to seek out the optimum transmission route for the solar energy they carry. “We have shown that this quantum random-walk stuff really exists,” Fleming says. “Have we absolutely demonstrated that it improves the efficiency? Not yet. But that’s our conjecture. And a lot of people agree with it.”' This the last paragraph in the article, which has the title "Is Quantum Mechanics Controlling Your Thoughts?". The fact that this isn't the first paragraph, beneath the headline "Scientist speculates adaptive quantum computation effect in bacterial photosynthesis" makes this a shining example of what's wrong with science journalism, and why everyone should stop reading it.

pg 17y ago
Fixed.

henryl 17y ago

I thought photosynthesis was amazingly inefficient compared to our best solar panels. http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7241e/w7241e05.htm http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7241e/w7241e05.htm