Videos

Quantum Biology Q&A



The Royal Institution

Jim Al-Khalili and Philip Ball answer questions on Quantum Biology. What happens to electrons in tunneling atoms? Do molecules vibrate? How do quantum effects happen in complex biological systems?

Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe

This event took place at the Royal Institution on 28 January 2015.

The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution
and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/
Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy
Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter

Source

Similar Posts

26 thoughts on “Quantum Biology Q&A
  1. About the Robin experiment. I ask myself if the fact that the birds had something at their heads might have altered their behavior in order that they did not want to continue the journey they were on but simply wanted to get the hell out in any direction possible. I ask myself, not knowing the precise layout of the experiment, if it were not easier to put them all in an absolutely dark box or room and do the experiment that way. I would also ask myself if there is a specific frequency of light needed to trigger the reaction that leads to the two radicals which, as far as I understood, by the time it takes to react give a clue about the direction of the magnetic lines. Now this leads me to the question if Robins really can tell where is south and where north or do they simply "feel" the alignment of magnetic field lines without the ability to actually tell where is the south and the north. Like if you were in a room and were told that the line drawn on the floor goes from south to north and it would be true, you still would be unable to tell which direction south or north is other than it must be one way or the other. Yet with another information you could clearly say. So maybe the mechanism by which Robins (and other birds and animals) can tell needs more input. Back to the "color" of the light question. I guess I can rule out frequencies that are not available at night, but still ask myself (and can imagine an experiment layout that could test this) if there is any specific wavelength at which the birds can tell the alignment of the magnetic field lines best. Of course this also needs some better knowledge of the retina of the birds, who can distinguish more colors, unimaginable by us (we have only trichromacy, birds have four different pigments and thus types of cones). Maybe this is vital to the whole “seeing the magnetic field lines” thing. Also, this could give a good hint about the biochemical process as it would narrow down the energy level needed for it to a specific value, if we find out that one specific frequency of monochromatic light triggers it best. Lots of questions, no answers. Some questions might be trivial, but it is good to ask them. To me, the whole Robin experiment is surely nice, but opens more questions than gives answers and I would like to rule out other explanations. Ever heard of Young’s 1937 Rat experiment and its implications? This is the sort of things I mean. Sorry for the long post. I do not expect an answer here, but if anyone reads it and thinks he understand and knows somebody, please forward this ideas. Also I find it hard to ask questions for the fear of sounding stupid, maybe my assumptions are wrong. I apologize if that is true, as you can tell I am not an expert in the field, but then again, this theme overlaps over so many fields that there hardly is somebody who is an expert in all fields (maybe the chemist is the one, but he does not realize it, this was already mentioned in the video). It is hard to put my thoughts into meaningful sentences and the fact that I use a foreign language does not help either. I am sad, knowing I will get no valuable answer to all my thoughts other than I should study more (there is no time, I have to go to work). Please do not think of me as a complete nutcase.

  2. the question is there something special about life ,the energy level in what we call life is in motion faster than so called non living items.a very small point seprates this but it also connects it and concisness in all living things at a very high level ,according to us .like the humming bird next to the man or a plant who is more alive ,due to motion .As this makes me feel all things are sort of alive but in diffrent states of anamation.since we are all made of the same stuff in a greater or lesser anamation.Is life at the subatomic level..

  3. When magnets are put on or near beehives they build their comb structure around the magnetic field lines of the local magnet. Just to give an idea of how much they rely on magnetic field lines when building their hives, and communicating to each other. (check out a google image search)

  4. 7:16 The women next to the guy talking looks really uncomfortable. She is also playing with a piece of hair, if the motion of her hands are anything to go by.

  5. Many expressions of simple states by inversion of modulated frequencies/paths turns the source of all information into the waves that are "read" as coherent locally. (and why superimposed infinite states "collapse" into coherence) …in response to the "many worlds theory is rubbish" proclamation.

    A full, slightly out of phase universal split is the shaping process of this observable, by turning the spin/reflection property inside out into infinite combinations of infinity, but stil one astronomical "object". Imagination is also localized to a relatively simple hireachic dimensions format.
    (How to have your kayak and heat it too)

    The structures of spacetime are granulated pulses of delayed instant spin, cause-effect, numerically sequenced in combination states frequencies, "made out" of resonance. The Clay Millennium problems have at least three that seem to be be directly related to the sequence of prime numbers and resulting structures. Gauss suggestion that primes occurrence was an effect of the exponential. It has to be how the now-instant superposition is delayed, shaped, and streched in duration-evolution to fit eternity in the modular states observed. QM

  6. I think Transistors in CPU`s would be a good a metaphor for the adaptive vs. unavaidable question. They come to a point where the transisotrs are becoming so small that tunneling becomes a real problem. Maybe it comes down to optimization , as in packing as much as possible chlorophyl cells in a leaf thus making them smaller and smaller to a point where tunneling occurs wich would be a boost in the rate in wich energy is transported i guess. Looks like two exact outcomes only one of them is Benefitial and the other one not but the root for both is the same, optimization. I could be totaly wrong of course im just a normal guy intrested in alot of stuff 😀

  7. If it turns out – and looks it does – that quantum mechanical processes indeed occur in living structures and at they are useful in information processing then from an evolutionary standpoint it would be EXTREMELY unlikely that such effects are missing from the single most complicated form of (living) structures, the human brain.

  8. Photons are electromagnetic fields at right angle. Two fields makes a photon. But electrons are not what gives us sight. Electrons can form entangled pairs, but photons do not form entangled pairs. So the confusion remains, as to what actually hit the robin's retina and what exactly aligns with the earth's magnetic field lines.
    How laws of quantum mechanics activates molecular level processes, needs a little more expounding.

  9. How can bio-quantum coherence occur at standard temperatures? This is like asking, 'How can we feel the effects of gravity, when it takes big science to isolate and detect gravity waves?'

  10. Phil looks like Benedict Cumberbatch's (Sherlock Holmes) elder brother and might I say handling no less a complicated case than Sherlock himself..😊

  11. Sounds great, but I got impression that quite a few people are using word "theory" where hypothesis is more appropriate?

  12. The chemist in the audience , who makes the bigotted statement about Arts graduates , really needs a good talking to. Seeing that the real questions that need answers in the future, will require multi-disciplinary teams to answer, I for one would not employ someone in the school of chemistry that thought his field of expertise was somehow of more intrinsic value than that of an Arts graduate. Did he think that Einstein would have thought like him? I know that chemists are looked down upon by physicists too. So should their put-downs be applauded? Its attitudes like his that need revision before we'll tackle problems like climate change, and how to keep astronauts from going crazy on long journeys like Mars. Nasa , after all paid good money to Laurie Anderson. Why? Because engineers need creatives to learn how to think creatively. Google even has rappers give talks to their creatives, so that they are reminded that creativity takes many different forms; not just 1's and 0's. Maybe his problem is, now he's learned the periodic table, he thinks he knows all there is to know. Lets just hope no one lets him teach!

  13. Interesting approach towards fundamental particles and nice discussion with audience, let artificial plant cell to be practical rather than stimulative for protein. Grate attempt.

  14. The bee question at the end there, dismissed pretty quickly, drew me in precisely because of that. Did a quick search and indeed, most types of bee don't even dance. Worth investigating.

Comments are closed.

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com