Image: Illustration by Justin Van Genderen
In Brief
- Quantum mechanics is commonly said to be a theory of microscopic things: molecules, atoms, subatomic particles.
- Nearly all physicists, though, think it applies to everything, no matter what the size. The reason its distinctive features tend to be hidden is not a simple matter of scale.
- Over the past several years experimentalists have seen quantum effects in a growing number of macroscopic systems.
- The quintessential quantum effect, entanglement, can occur in large systems as well as warm ones—including living organisms—even though molecular jiggling might be expected to disrupt entanglement.
More In This Article
According to standard physics textbooks, quantum mechanics is the theory of the microscopic world. It describes particles, atoms and molecules but gives way to ordinary classical physics on the macroscopic scales of pears, people and planets. Somewhere between molecules and pears lies a boundary where the strangeness of quantum behavior ends and the familiarity of classical physics begins. The impression that quantum mechanics is limited to the microworld permeates the public understanding of science. For instance, Columbia University physicist Brian Greene writes on the first page of his hugely successful (and otherwise excellent) book The Elegant Universe that quantum mechanics “provides a theoretical framework for understanding the universe on the smallest of scales.” Classical physics, which comprises any theory that is not quantum, including Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity, handles the largest of scales.
Yet this convenient partitioning of the world is a myth. Few modern physicists think that classical physics has equal status with quantum mechanics; it is but a useful approximation of a world that is quantum at all scales. Although quantum effects may be harder to see in the macroworld, the reason has nothing to do with size per se but with the way that quantum systems interact with one another. Until the past decade, experimentalists had not confirmed that quantum behavior persists on a macroscopic scale. Today, however, they routinely do. These effects are more pervasive than anyone ever suspected. They may operate in the cells of our body.
This article was originally published with the title Living in a Quantum World.
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65 Comments
Add CommentJohnC11 wrote: Ponder this: In the quantum world things don't exist until they are observed by a consciousness. Einstein tried his darnedest to refute that but science has thus far shown his objections to be unsubstantiated.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKeep an open mind to all possibilities. The universe is stranger than we think it is!
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Nutrition is the spirit of what was eaten, now thats getting into small stuph but there is much smaller. So far this is just talk talk so try this real COOL experiment;
Fill a stubby clear water glass ¾ full of water. Place in the freezer. Next day have a peek. WOW!
Drill a ¼ inch hole down into the center of ice. Fill that hole with water then put it into the fridge (not freezer). After a couple hours you will notice that water surrounds the berg and the drilled hole of water is frozen solid!
The AURA of air has changed the AURA of the glass that changes the repelling nuclei of the ice to attraction (thawing). At the center, AURA of the ice has sent the nuclei of water in the drilled hole repelling and the now many cold producing poles of matter create freezing.
A body of water whether it be a nuclei, cell, raindrop, pond, lake, “you” or ocean will have a common nucleus. The shape of that nucleus will depend on the shape of the body of water as orbiting nuclei centers to its mass.
Holding a lighter under the clear ice produces water.
After the clear ice melts hold a flame under the white ice or nucleus of the ice cube and no water is produced but the flame produces atmosphere that you can't see and carbon of matter that you can see and collect.
Bit more to it than that.
Cells of any kind are territorial. Do the above experiment using a long cylindrical glass. This experiment will show individual frozen water cells.
It takes reaction to turn stone to gas, then it takes reaction to turn gas to water and again reaction to turn water to gas, reaction then turns gas back into rock. Simply, sand is baby or immature rock. With sand natural pressure and time the blocks of the worlds pyramids are formed. Artificially using carbon you can in just a few months grow a diamond!
think HOT as being nuclear particals orbiting in chaotic orbit directions and Cold being chaotic nuclear particles orbiting harmonically in same orbit directions.
(cause a reaction, blow on your hand)
I'm still having trouble with this - didn't Einstein say he refused to believe that the moon did not exist until he looked at it?!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSuperconductivity is a good demonstration of quantum effects on a macroscopic scale. More effects are likely to be observed in addition to this. The half integer spin of the electrons pair up to integer spins, which effectively results in a population of bosons that, instead of bumping and crowding in a fluid resistance mode, share mutual spaces in a frictionless manner for flow without resistance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf things don't exist until observed by a conciousness, what happened at the instant of the big bang? If you don't believe in God, what conciousness observed the formation of the universe? It seems we have returned full circle to the begining of philosophy. I think, therefore I am!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's more like "I Am, Therefore I Think."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCheck out I Am That: Talks by Nisgardatta Maharaj.
The Yoga Sutras (the founding text of all Yoga) describes this and more in perfect detail.
The truth that has been described by the mystics throughout history is finally coming to be explained by Scientists.
Simple "easy experiment" -- Your room is and has been regulated to maintain a temperature. You would think that things in the room would absorb and adapt to that temperature, right! WRONG get up and feel things, anything solid like metal will feel cold, anything pours will be warm or room temperature.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis senerio takes place across the land. Go 100 miles in any direction from where you live and a different ecosystems exists.
In November I leave balmy Vancouver and soon face freezing in Merrit warming a bit till Kamloops then into balmy Shushwap, snow up to your ying yang in Revolstoke then back into the cold of Golden.
When you ask the why of this, they say, well its how the wind comes down the lake or off the snow covered mountain or down the valley or the ocean etc etc.
A little common sence -- You do not have snow covered mountains, lakes and rivers in your cliamate controled room!
cbc.ca bruce voigt
This statement, "In the quantum world things don't exist until they are observed by a consciousness," is dilettantish interpretation of unavoidable perturbations of small-scale systems that experimenters don't understand; its a wrong-headed myth parroted by nitwits.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe conceit of (quantum) physics is that all matter/energy is irreducibly physical and, therefore, detectable by such means. In fact, we see hints of a preexisting and precursory sub-materiality in, for example, the Casimir effect. However, because this precursory domain is intractably aphysical, we can neither detect it directly nor harness it.
Bruce: The objects in the room ARE the same room temperature.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMetal feels cold because it conducts heat faster from your body than something like a rug which is made of material that is more insular. This is elementary physics.
Also, it's not that things don't exist until observed. It's that a particle's properties don't exist until they are observed. For example, the position or momentum of a subatomic particle cannot be realized until measured by an observer.
You really need to read up on real science before spouting ridiculous BS in what is supposed to be a science forum.
A simple phenomenon is the temperature Cold. All cells, quarks, nuclei, blood, earth etc produce cold from their poles. We see this on our planet what we don't detect is the cold from the poles of say a skin cell. The ratio of cold emitting from cells is so minute as to go unnoticed except of course the big cell Earth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEvery cell has a nucleus with orbiting bits of itself (nuclei) and individually con zillions of these are in harmony with the cell until a reaction causes the particles to repel one another. Individually these particles have the same energy as the parent two poled cell. Now you will notice the cold being produced.
As an example take an air cell and cause a reaction! OK just blow on your hand.
Man discovered that temperature interacted with mercury and the thermometer was born, I know, I know this is not making sense but hang in there. The house is hot as heck so you have a fan cooling a room. Coming from the hot bathroom its refreshing to get back to your cooled room. The thermometer taken from the bathroom reads 40 degrees and now in the cooled room reads 38 degrees. Next day (hot as heck) the bathroom reads a hot 38 and the comfortable room with fan reads 36. OK now this is my discovery. ---
The fan in the room is causing a reaction that has air cells chipping, in other words that one cell that produces cold from its poles is now producing cold from the co zillion poles of its chips.
Because Forces of Equal Evolution act Upon Forces of Equal Evolution the cold producing chips or molecules of air do not interact with the mercury of your thermometer. This explains the mystery of wind chill.
You are correct. A "conciousness" is not needed. Consider that the human brain is a machine and it becomes obvious that an "observation" is not an intellectual exercise, but rather a particle interaction. Hence, so long as a system is repeatedly colliding with any particle, "conscious" or not, it is consistently "observed." The Moon is safe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are so right Bruce, except you left out the part about the cold fairy that gave each of the co zillion particles the cold poles in the first place!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBruce,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think you read too much, and then attempt to interpret what you read. You want to understand but achieve nothing in the end.
I remember reading a few months ago in Scientific American, where a physicist was quoted (and I am paraphrasing here), that boiling water to make a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, noodles or soup, is a common place Quantum Mechanical effect we can observe in our macro world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe orbits of the planets in our Solar System, and the recently discovered exoplanet orbits, seem to occupy certain "allowed" orbits. Some astronomers speak of our Solar System's orbits affected by the gravitational influence due to the nodes of Jupiter and the other gas giant planets. These nodes are based on applying Chaos Theory to our Solar System explaining along with the observed planetary orbits, the reason why the asteroid belt exists between Mars and Jupiter. Whilst Quantum Mechanics is a linear theory thought to be incompatible with non-linear Chaos Theory, at first glance, it may be worthwhile to consider that Chaos Theory is a part of non-linear mathematics, and it may be possible that linear mathematics may be a sub-set of non-linear mathematics.
In engineering control systems' theory, to control a non-linear parameter, you confine the desired control set point within a selected restricted linear region of the non-linear parameter's curve. More complex linear control systems may use a piecewise linear approach where more than one desired control point may be required.
Fuzzy logic control is used when the desired control point may not be defineable at a specific point, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are used to control non-linear parameters where it's not possible to find a desired control point within restricted linear region, or where there are too many desired control points. The ANN works by finding a non-linear solution for the control law.
Quantum Mechanics has a significant component of statistical analysis, and statistics may be considered to be a linear method of analysing non-linear systems, to give approximate or probable results. The inclusion of statistics in Quantum theory, is due to a consequence of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle; unlike Classical Physics, for a sub-atomic particle it is not possible to know its momentum and location at the same time because to measure a particle's momentum, or location you need to shine a light on it; i.e. expose the particle to photons, and as soon as the particle absorbs enough photonic energy, due to Einstein's Work Function, the particle will do a Quantum jump, and occupy a different quantum energy level.
Thus you can either know a subatomic particle's momentum parameter or location parameter, but not both at the same time, also you can measure either parameter as it was, not as it is now. (As an interesting side issue I was thinking from a Chaos Theory Fractal orbit perspective, the contrast between the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and that when we observe a star or galaxy we see it as it was years ago, not as it is now.)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a consequence of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, statistics helps to determine the probability of a sub-atomic particle having a particular location and momentum, within a range of values for each parameter.
Stating that a particle, the moon or the universe exists only when you look at them is a gross simplification, leading to misinterpretation due to sloppy thinking. The more accurate interpretation is that the particle, the moon or the universe exists in every possible state, and the wave function collapses into a particular most probable state when the particle, the moon, or the universe are observed, but we see them as they were, not as they are now. Consider that the moon is one light second away, and its orbital motion about the earth changes its location, the Earth's axial tilt's precession and nutation causing the precession of the equinoxes, the orbit of the Earth about the Sun, the precession of the Earth's orbit, and the Sun's orbit about the Galactic center, and the cyclic oscillation of the Sun and the ecliptic plane above and below the Galactic plane, means the moon will be in a different space-time coordinate 28 days later.
According to the web site: http://www.integralworld.net/diem-lane5.html
Einstein's quote was:
“I think that a 'particle' must have a separate reality independent of the measurements. That is an electron has spin, location and so forth even when it is not being measured. I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it.”
Einstein was bothered by the link between the act of conscious observation and the existence of phenomena to be observed. Which may have motivated along with his distaste for the inclusion of statistics, his initial reaction to reject Quantum Theory by stating "God does not play dice!"
Years later Einstein regretted his initial negative reaction to Quantum Physics when he realised how successful the theory became.
If Quantum Mechanics was incorrect then the computer you are reading this on, and the computer I used to write this text with, would be unable to exist.
Nicely done, although I do not subscribe to many of your points. In my experience analytical models no not necessarily accurately present the detailed physical processes that produce the results predicted as long as the specific results predicted are are adequately represented in summation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs I understand, the authors of the exceedingly precise and successful standard model of particle physics do not understand all of its analytical processes, but they found equations that produced useful results.
I may be wrong, but I understand that the manifestation of a particle or wave depends primarily on whether particle of wave characteristics are tested. For example, if the location is determined, it is a particle that is detected. If wavelength is tested, an energy wave is detected.
While the quantum particles comprising the moon may intermittently manifest as stationary particles and propagating waves, their oscillation is individual not collective. We observe only an apparently stationary but moving object.
To say that quantum mechanics is correct is to say that it produces very useful results, not that it is a completely accurate model of even quantum processes. However, the way that physicists hold on to useful methods, the standard model that does not include quantum mass and the persistent, imaginary, dark matter, for example, I expect there will be few adjustments made, even if unexplainable experimental results are encountered.
The Moon is Safe. I have seen it. But I never saw a quantum. The Moon is real BECAUSE i can see it.a Quantum is not real because I cannot it ,feel it or observe its effects like gravity or electrity.If I was blind I could observe the Moon mathematically from tides but Quanta are not observed in any way
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell that was a mighty fine bunch of bull
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow if you just take a second and go to the picture at the top of the page. Justin Van Genderen shows what you have been taught in that the Earths Magnetic Force enters one pole and exits the other. With a little common sense and keeping in mind that we can't see it. Would it not make more sense that what is named magnetic force is moving equatorial from west to east. Oh and all that stuph about metal filings over a magnet was interpreted wrong because they could not see the force!
If you head out today looking for a Dust Devil you won't find it. But next time you see one take note to its swirling direction. If this baby Tornado is turning clock wise your Weather Person will be advising High Pressure. Counter clock wise will indicate Low Pressure.
The Earth has its nucleus nuclei orbiting "equatorially" from West to East. Through centrifugal force nuclei spiral horizontally away from the orbit producing our North and South poles.
The text book diagram showing the Earths Magnetic Field is "wrong"!
Standing in the north looking down Earth energy moves counter clockwise and in the south clockwise. You might say it's just how you look at it, two directions indeed! Well, we can't bend the Earth but we can bend the bar magnet into a horseshoe. Now, looking at both the north and and south poles from the same direction surely this will remind you of the low and high pressure regions of a weather map!
Low and high pressure portrays the bent energy rods of Earth's inner turmoil.
Bend your head around this and a new phenomenon Weather Radar Circles and Bob's your uncle!
I am surprised that I am replying to you at all because of your strange and untrue views. But anyhow, I need to let you in on a few secrets.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is NO SUCH THING as cold, darkness or vacuum - just to name a few.
"Cold" is simply a word we use to describe the absence of "heat."
"Darkness" is a word we use to describe the absence of "light."
"Vacuum" is a word we use to describe the absence of "pressure."
Better check out your elementary physics before you get carried away with who knows what.
While the air cell is expanded its nuclei are of a size that does not interact with the sun's radiation and little light is produced leaving a dark cloud (black). The vortex of energy released from the Earth has now mutated to a size as to interact with gravity and air, returning to Earth as a destructive tornado.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI believe that my discoveries, science and technology will solve any mysteries in regards to the collapse of the three 9/11 towers. The energy dispersed with the two crashing air craft would be added to the energy of natural fire.
What you are seeing or rather not seeing in the black smoke being produced is the energy it took to collapse these buildings.
Like the small nuclei of a black hole does not interact with matter so it is with the nuclei of an air cell. The reaction of fire causes these small particles to separate and being that these many repelling particles are the same strength as the cell multiplying fires energy or heat.
Black -- the nuclei energy shows in the black smoke of burning oil, the black wave of Japans Tsunami, the black smoke of a wild fire.
If by chance you ever encounter a dust devil, water spout, fire tornado that is black, stay away as it may turn out to be the likes of a miniature Tunguska Disaster, the blackness of outer space! Think of the energy!
scenario;
Ocean waves are two feet, there is no effort standing in this (little energy).
A rouge "three" foot wave comes along and with its energy knocks you over and beats the hell out of you as it's dragging your body along the bottom.
Ocean waves are "three" feet, there is no effort standing in this (little energy).
A rouge four foot wave comes along and with its energy knocks you over and beats the hell out of you as it's dragging your body along the bottom.
So if quantum mechanics can accurately and verifiably explain behavior at the smallest of levels, the implication is that for it to explain things at a higher level supposes that what happens at a higher level is an extention of it .ie... forces are some kind of field affect over time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI do believe that there is a singular description (or law) that exists that will explain how everything will elegantly fit together. My own bias, however, is that what we observe in the universe was constructed from the largest to the smallest, from the outside in, not the smallest to the largest from the inside out. If that is true then if we do eventually understand how everything operates on the quantum level, and we do not see how it fits into classical physics (including relativity), then perhaps we do not really understand "why" classical physics models behavior in the universe relatively accurately.
Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that explores the particle nature of the natural world. The Standard Model of Particle Physics is the most powerful theory within quantum mechanics. (Gravity, the Higgs Boson, dark matter & dark energy are currently not part of the Standard Model). In quantum mechanics probability completely replaces causality. In other words the results are statistically expressed but it works due to the large numbers of particles in processes. Yes ... it includes the physics of all electronics including the computers we love.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll this business about "consciousness" is misdirected. Human observation or cognition does not have anything directly to do with which quality e.g. particle or wave appears. It is the structure of the experiment or detection system that determines the outcome and this is predictable. The single slit experiment always produces results on the screen/detector that appears to have been produced by photons i.e. light particles. The double slit experiment produces wave compatible results (unless one slit has a detector and then the results are particle compatible).
The detector systems in the quantum experiments are interactive and therefore influence the results. Human perception is passive and doesn't send out an interactive signal. Therefore our "observation" doesn't affect the result. It doesn't even matter if a human looks on or not while the experiment runs. We merely see the end result i.e. particle or wave phenomena or qualities.
Einstein's comment about the Moon was tongue-in-cheek, intended to express his skepticism about the new science. He knew the experimental results were consistent but to the end of his life he didn't believe quantum mechanics was a complete theory. He thought some hidden variable or yet to be discovered factor would eventually make sense of its strange results. Modern tests since have yet to discover any hidden variable and therefore seem to confirm quantum mechanics as is. The jury may still be out as there are "hold outs" who favor Einstein's sentiments. Time will tell. In the meantime quantum mechanics works and most physicists are happy enough using it.
quote -- I do believe that there is a singular description (or law) that exists that will explain how everything will elegantly fit together.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-------------
Allow me;
Would it not be nice to understand new true science of why and how things are attracted and stick to each other, really simple STUPH! (not complicated at all)
Explaining why the quark, molecule, cell, atom, magnetism etc attract and repel would soon have eyes glazing over. I will make it real simple for you to understand why bread crumbs don't stick to the plate yet toast crumbs and egg do, why snow flakes and rain drops are separated.
OK this is what you do. Sit your-self down in front of the six o'clock news and take note of the weather report. Animation shows the high pressure area (clockwise) and close by will be a low pressure (counter clock wise). If you look carefully its easy to see the forces of the low melding into the forces of the high (attracting). Looking closer, take note that the forces of the high and low merge into a figure 8 and thats how every natural thing having multiple orbits is held together. Look for two highs or two lows and you can see where the forces are running into each other (repelling).
Take this to the smallness of the quark or the hugeness of the heavens and Bobs your uncle!
The Higgs Boson has not been detected, but big bodies are substituted by many atoms which are well understood by QM, so are big bodies. Semiconductors for example work well in computer chips and LEDs so QM are delivering good models for calculating them best and they work well. Einstein was wrong saying God does not play dice and he was also wrong with relativity theory which contradicts quanrum mechanics.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn my youth I asked the question what electromagnetic fields lines particles were made of?At the time I knew of the flow in and out of the poles.But the answer I was given was nothing,the same one I got when I asked about space-time.I see things have not changed much.There still is no explanation of what these particles are.As for the Moon being there.What was going on before mankind was around?Just how conceited can some of the members of our species be to think that nothing else exists unless they are looking at it.What I think is going on is that the information of where something is,isn't known till the test is done.The test it's self doesn't determine the outcome,because it has already happened.Any given test just gives us the answer we were looking for.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisQuote: " Human perception is passive and doesn't send out an interactive signal. Therefore our "observation" doesn't affect the result. It doesn't even matter if a human looks on or not while the experiment runs. We merely see the end result i.e. particle or wave phenomena or qualities."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWould you go further and doubt Free Will? (See: How Free Is Your Will? By Daniela Schiller and David Carmel | March 22, 2011, and the comments on it.)
Quote: " Human perception is passive and doesn't send out an interactive signal. Therefore our "observation" doesn't affect the result. It doesn't even matter if a human looks on or not while the experiment runs. We merely see the end result i.e. particle or wave phenomena or qualities."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWould you go further and doubt Free Will? (See: How Free Is Your Will? By Daniela Schiller and David Carmel | March 22, 2011, and the comments on it.)
I've a question about the statement:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"According to calculations that my colleagues and I have done, quantum effects persist in a birds eye for around 100 microseconds which, in this context, is a long time. The record for an artificially engineered electron-spin system is about 50 microseconds. We do not yet know how a natural system could preserve quantum effects for so long, but the answer could give us ideas for how to protect quantum computers from decoherence."
in the paper.
Do you think quatum effects last long enough before decoherence in biological systems to perform simple quantum computations?
Orfheo.
quote -- There still is no explanation of what these particles are.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-----------
AURA
As an experiment, after a brisk walk on a cool morning remove your clothing and jump into bed. It doesn’t take long before warm air is wafting from the covers. Feel your skin it will be cold.
An atomic reaction is taking place within your body changing water to what it was made from H2O (gas). This heated excreting gas is made up of miniature nuclei containing a nucleus that has all the information of its parent. Contained in that water cell that changed to gas is the complete (including Memory) make up of you.
This aura (or con zillions of you) are now on an adventure of Evolution. Some of these will mutate on the body and can be detected by smell. If a bathing doesn’t take place a good magnification will show things with legs (bed mites)and they will probably be Earths next dinosaur. Others of you are been dispersed where ever you are or go (its this Aura that a tracking dog homes in on).
Like Crop Circles an accumulation or Aura in a packed state can manifest into ghost. Most of these particles amalgamate with the Earths centrifugal force and are taken aloft to become the nucleus of a water cell (rain drop).
The moment you die a measurable 3/4 troy ounce of your make up including memory is recycled by the brain (reverse evolution were the orbiting nuclei of the nucleus is sped up in which each cell or particle is smaller than the last).
This 3/4 ounce of energy does not stay on Earth but is whisked out into space (dark mater) to be used some where, some time, some how by something. It comforts me to know that their will always be a part of me tucked away some where out there.
Hi Bruce,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is a nice text, but it is YOUR belief, a belief that I have to respect but not have to accept.
We are discussing here the Quantum World, which is one our "perceptions" of reality.
It is easy to claim the solipsistic view when you say that perception is the "cause" of reality, this also means that when you are dead the Universe does not exist any more (the 3/4 of the ounce that you refer to may be wishfull thinking of a human made of flesh and blood with consciousness of the surrounding universe)for the individual that you were.
The seven billion other people being alive with each 300 billion of neurones form from a distance also a sort of quantum world, the exact position and/or velocity of each individual is not measurable, and even if you couls measure it it would say nothing about the "WHOLE", active detecting a human individual makes the person "aware" of this observation (effect of camera's in a crowd) and so change his original behaviour (the same as in the quantum world).
It is the scales of observation that are different and result in making a system having a behaviour of quantum mechanics (digital) or an analog reality.
Every interaction , no human perception is needed, is achieving a change in the possibillity wave, you need not to "SEE" teh results of an observation , so here the word observation is not used in the proper way, like camera's in a crowd that are not connected but have the effect that is desired.
keep on thinking
Wilhelmus.d@orange.fr
quote -- We are discussing here the Quantum World, which is one our "perceptions" of reality.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this------------------------------
Hearing and Sensing Sound
Lightly scratch the top left side of your head. The scratching you hear or what you sense is prominent at the top left side of your head. Moving around the skull sensing this scratching you can, in your mind, hear and pinpoint the location.
A big difference in scratching the ear, now you are hearing not sensing.
Do the same at the tip and nostril of your nose and behold, no sound and no sense.
I said -- The nose is more than meets the eye
They said -- Only your nose knows
CBC radio news said -- Your nose is unique and like finger prints, it's one of a kind
To reason with anything one must know and understand the true reason.
AURA OF THE BODY
Aura mutates outside the body. The body secretes a force (gas) (info cells)! These mutate with info cells of the atmosphere.
The brain’s knowledge is derived from senses. A very important sense of my discovery is body aura. Matured body aura intermingles with brain cell aura; this is accomplished by hand/head contact. Sleep is a perfect example; now you know why you rest your head on a cold, bony hand. Just watch people or pay attention to yourself; little time lapses before some type of hand/head contact is made. This discovery explains why groups of people look alike, why a group of people with gentle thoughts are gentle, and at the ball game, excited, and then there is mob mentality. Take a few of these gentle people, throw them in with a mob and then watch out.
This discovered force is very powerful and runs our world. It affects all life. It controls and protects the evolution of every species on earth – a flock of geese, a pack of wolves, a school of fish, a pine grove, and a city.
MOB MENTALITY
A person is put in a sound-proof box and is hooked up to electrocardiogram etc. Oblivious to what is going on outside the box, the box is taken to a packed arena where a very exciting game is in progress. This box will absorb the aura or info cells of the crazed crowd. The person in the box, without knowing why, will feel or experience the excitement of the crowd which will show on the electrocardiogram.
I find most Chinese people look alike. When I visit Richmond I think I know everyone. It’s no wonder we have not been contacted by aliens as they would probably see all Earth species as looking alike and are out there trying to communicate with a tree,
or my ex-wife.
I am all for truth. On the other hand I worry that we are playing into the hands here of all the people that:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. misuse the concepts of Quantum Mechanics to support all sorts of preposterous claims (ala Deepak Chopra)
2. use the notion that Classical physics has been supplanted by Quantum Mechanics and Relativity and to claim that science is constantly changing and so we can never say what is true and what is not with authority
I wish that this article had been written with a bit more finesse to help curtail these sorts of arguments that will now be made with gusto and this article will be cited as evidence of these claims.
Also, the notion that Quantum Mechanics is a good description of the macroscopic world (which is likely not the claim of the author) is patently false. We would never expect, for example that shooting tennis balls, one at a time, at a double slit would produce a visible diffraction pattern. The typical behaviors of subatomic particles are not going to be observed in the macroscopic world. There will be those who will now be encouraged to believe that macroscopic objects do behave exactly like subatomic particles, that a tennis ball will go through a wall every now and then as a tunneling electron goes through a barrier that it does not have the energy to penetrate.
What a refreshing review of the difference between the microscopic world and the macroscopic world!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wish more folks would have a clearer understanding of the true differences. As always, more dreaming NEVER makes any false idea true.
The potential discovery in any subject is endless. I for instance realized while flying a high cambered Aircraft upside down that flight was really all about thrust and atmospheric controlled free fall.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEXPERIMENT
One figure skater
One weight scale
One piece of ice
Note the weight of ice and skater
Have the skater perform a high speed spin and notice that she now contributes very little to the combined weight.
This experiment to costly and time consuming! How about
On the way to the super market stop into a toy store and purchase a kids toy spinning top. Ask the butcher to weigh the top then get the thing spinning and weigh it again.
Still can't be bothered! Try to visualize a pitcher throwing a curve ball. At about 100mph the ball is weightless (free fall). The orbit (spin) of the ball plus the balls speed has created aura that has very little interaction with the atmosphere. (Forces of equal Evolution act upon Forces of Equal Evolution). Atmospheric interaction causing the ball to dip or curve happens when the balls speed and rotation slows.
quote
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNew brooms sweeping the nation -
Technological advancements in curling are about as rare as an eight-ender.
But thanks to some research done ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics, a new brush head is causing a stir at both the elite and grassroots level of the game. While it’s proved exceptionally effective,
“Our first discovery was that no one is actually melting the ice when they sweep,” he said. “That sort of changed all our thinking.”
For decades, perhaps centuries, curlers believed when they swept, they melted the ice ever so slightly and that allowed the rocks to travel farther and curl less.
----------------------------------
Originally Posted by Bruce Voigt
HEADS UP
----base ball is traveling close to 100 MPH it is in fact in free fall and----
I learned this in the early sixties from a Water Resources crew boss.
When we would have a new employee on board he would turn and ask if anyone would like a cigarette. That was my cue to slow the aircraft and as the cigarette was lit I would gently drop the nose, he would then release it and it, with the smoke would slowly drift to the back.
I soon learned that one should have the ashtrays closed and the floor clean as coming out of free fall this stuff was also floating and made one H of a mess.
Now if I was telling you this back in the fifties you would not have a clue to what I was talking about. Now of course you have seen it many times where large aircraft create orbital free fall and have people floating around.
Since Sputnik we have understood the high speed required to maintain orbital free fall. So when I mention that a base ball is traveling close to 100 MPH it is in fact in free fall and torque as we know it does not exist, about half of you will get it!
As the ball slowes torque comes into play and the ball will react to the spin or torque and will dip curve etc.
The spinning bowling ball traveling a little slower with such little surface contact!
Now, the year 2010 I walk into the curling rink and try and explain that the rock that was just thrown and that's now hurtling down the ice at 00point something miles per hour is in free fall. That as it slowes it is not rock and ice contact that is creating the curl but in fact its the force of torque. The game should be called TORQUEING. Just a little bitterness as when I advised that the broom sweeping happening is creating a force that interacts with torque causing ---!
The author really should have referenced or linked to examples to support the following, "Until the past decade, experimentalists had not confirmed that quantum behavior persists on a macroscopic scale. Today, however, they routinely do."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBased on the comments I am not the only one who would benefit from such information.
Hi there Bruce, are you on crack?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisQuanta are imagination There are only waves in nature.Particles are mixtures of waves.An electron consists of packed Besselfunctions and nothing else.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@37. bewertow
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisjg3000 wrote: Bruce Voigt It takes a truly brilliant person to make non sense make so much sense.
I bow to your superior intellect sir
AntiCementHead wrote: The giftedly intelligent can see connections, patterns, that us normals don't see. If Bruce, (may I call you Bruce?) is in this category, then all power to him. Be careful though, Bruce. Even Galileo had to keep his mouth shut most of the time, for his own safety. And in our times, Einstein was misunderstood by most.
@38. morp
Sound waves? No such thing!
We have been led to believe that thunder is the after math or results of lightning when in fact the opposite is true!
Thunder (the collapse of air cells) creates the energy of what we call lightning.
Thunder happens first!
Sound travels much faster than light !
The sound that we play around with is leftover energy of reactions that have magnetically regrouped into larger chips (molecules). This leftover energy is just one in many that an air cell has as it’s nucleus!
Considering new technology, and I was listening from the Moon “I would hear your hum before you would!”
Dr. Vedral’s article on “Living in a Quantum World” opens up a whole new branch of science, Quantum Psychology. This field would study subjects (human, animal, or thing – you wouldn’t want to choose one and preordain the outcome, would you?) that simultaneously understand and do not understand quantum mechanics, in a probabilistic state of being that contradicts Richard Feynmen’s postulate on page 43 of the same article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI read the article by Vlatko Vedral, Living in a Quantum World, with much interest as I've always been fascinated by physics (both classical and quantum).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne thing that has always left me somewhat unsatisfied though with the use of logic is the assumption that all analogies apply across the board. What I mean specifically is the famous Schrodinger's cat in gedankenexperiments.
The problem I see here is that the animate/inanimate state of the cat (the question of animacy) is an emergent property and not a property or energy state of a particle. I think the original premise of the argument was whether the "trigger" went off or not. The focus, in my mind, should not be the state of the cat itself but whether the atomic trigger decays or not before an observation is made. The state of the trigger is in limbo, not the cat itself.
The other fundamental question that has also always bugged me about the "incompatibility" of the quantum world with our observable one: is not quantum physics mainly concerned with interaction of, essentially, individual particles with other individual particles and the resultant energy states?
The main concern of "classical" physics is the gravitational interaction of agglomerated particles, and not individual particles in isolated and idealized states.
I mean, quantum physics seems to be about particle/energy states before and after an interaction while classical physics is mainly concerned with electromagnetically balanced (ie, inert charge states) of systems. The relevant question here (in classical physics) seems to be how "monopoles" of gravity (gravitons and antigravitons) agglomerate into fields while quantum physics is concerned about what the constituents are that make up the "monopoles".
Am I making any sense?
Jay
In “Living in a Quantum World”, the author argues that “quantum mechanics applies to things of all sizes: birds, plants, maybe even people”. The author explains that the macroscopic world looks classical, and not quantum mechanical, because of a process known as decoherence, a mechanism for the appearance of wave function collapse based on the interactions of a system with its surroundings. The author points out that although larger systems are more susceptible to decoherence, quantum effects have recently been demonstrated with systems of up to 1020 atoms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to know the authors opinion about the statement that since the gravitational pull of a black hole prevents information to leak beyond its event horizon (except maybe for some Hawking radiation), the system within said event horizon is not susceptible to decoherence. Said huge system must therefore remain in a state of superposition, showing clear quantum effects.
Furthermore, when the concept of black holes not being susceptible to decoherence is combined with the prediction from general relativity that to the outside observer time stops at the event horizon, an intimate relationship seems to emerge between decoherence, gravity and the flow of time.
A quantum mechanical description of time could find mathematical basis in the concept that time is proportional to the decoherence of a system. A quantum mechanical description of gravity on the other hand could find basis in the concept that gravity is proportional to the potential to slow down decoherence.
In the article, on page 41 the author says that a pair of entangled electrons will have precisely opposite spins, and asks "How do they know to do so? This remains utterly mysterious." I have an idea of how this can be explained, and am curious what others think of it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLet me use a flatland kind of analogy. Imagine space as a piece of paper with some folds in it. A 3D pin pierces the paper near a fold; to the 2D inhabitants it is seen as two nearby objects. If the pin moves away from the fold the two images of it appear to move away from each other. The distance between the images in the 2D space can increase but remain unchanged in the 3rd dimension. If the pin is spun, one image spins clockwise and the other counter-clockwise.
So, my idea is that an entangled pair of electrons can have exactly opposite spins because they are actually a single higher dimension object which intersects our 3-space twice. There is no mysterious communication needed, since they only appear to us as distinct objects, when in fact they are actually just two images of a single spinning object.
Those experiments are listed in the table on the second-to-last page.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo one yet knows how decoherence works in the context of a black hole.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this model would run afoul of Bell's theorem.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this model would run afoul of Bell's theorem.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswhat in the name of .. --- you have done right now .. you have unleashed .. a powerful ..bug
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisa world that is quantum at all scales ..
whet the appetites ..
quantum behaviour
they may operate in the cells of our body .. and of all the cells .. in all of our body .. what most of all .. counts for .. our neurons ..
all what is behind ... and especially for you Americans .. how we make money .. how we buy and sell .. to give focus and perspective .. for the advertisers to find ways for their hapless victims to part with their money .. and for the ever eager acolytes of stock exchanges, forex markets, to pin down that elusive investors/speculators/gamblers sentiment .. quantum behaviour ..ahoy ..
any sparky entrepreneur .. that worth its salt .. will delve deep into quantum --- .. to unleash the mysteries
to make tonnes of money .. for self .. and loyal acolytes ..
classical physics .. convenient partitioning of the world .. a myth
ahead lies an even bigger myth .. equivalent to classical physics .. step-to-step .. a classical world .. partitioned .. to people worthy or un-worthy .. rich poor less poor less rich .. all upon .. a thoroughly degrading standard .. that that money provides ..
the human individual would discover its own self .. will sweep aside all the debris that muddle its paths
for the human to get a grasp .. of the wonders of its very own courtyard ..
I think I have a complementary conception - I'll try to explain as clearly as possible using common terminology.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI presuppose that the eventually localized detected electron particles only self-propagate through spacetime manifesting as directionally dispersed wave energy. The emitted wave is typically partitioned into two independently directed wave fronts, still joined as they linearly disperse through spacetime. The two wavefronts can be separately detected as complimentary particles even though they both still represent the singular wave emission.
There are almost certainly some technical issues that require resolution and further development, but I think this conceptual approach could allow progress in the understanding of the demonstrated interdependence of seemingly separate particle properties.
I can think of another macroscopic quantum mechanical phenomenon - solids. Solids don't have a classical explanation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGood question. I talked this over with the author and he had the following to say: "There is a lot to be said about decoherence rates, but the gist is this. It depends on the encoding of relevant information. For instance, if we are talking about electronic energy states, then decoherence could be really fast, say on the order of picoseconds. Even then, quantum coherence can exist since optical excitation is on the order of femtoseconds, i.e. a thousand times faster. On the other hand, if we are talking about the spin degree of freedom, then coherence times are much longer, say 6 to 9 orders of magnitude (micro- or milliseconds). This, however, has to be taken together with the slower driving times (e.g. the time it takes to create coherence)."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSince information cannot travel faster than the speed of light and since the minimum velocity needed to escape from the gravitational pull of a black hole (once beyond the event horizon) is per definition faster than the speed of light, it seems reasonable to assume that no information from within the event horizon can leak into its surroundings. Therefore, it is to be expected that the system within the event horizon is not susceptible to decoherence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnyway, I've sent my question above to the editors of Scientific American as a "letter". If it gets selected for publication, I may get an answer. :)
Best wishes,
dr. Anthony Tarallo
The Hague
Netherlands
In Vlatko Vedral's thoroughly enjoyable article. "Living in a Quantum World", the table "Leading Experiments" contains an incorrect statement. The statement in question is "[in 1999] Observed interference pattern for buckyball showing for the first time that molecules, like elementary particles, behave like waves".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs far back as 1970, Winicur et al, then at Cal Tech, [D. H. Winicur, A. L. Moursund, W. R. Deveraux, L. Martin and A. Kuppermann, Differential Elastic
Scattering of D2 by N2 in Crossed Molecular Beams, J. Chem. Phys., 52 (1970) 3299] reported interference patterns in collisions of small molecules showing that molecules exhibit wave behavior.
If the statement had read "large molecules" it would have been correct.
What is truth,who are mystics?Ancient mystics had no telescopes but found,by logical thinking,stars should have parallaxes ,the parallaxes were seen by Bessel 20 centuries after they were found by thinking.Now we think " Quantum World" is a big mistake.No real phenomena are found to confirm Quanta.Observation seems to confirm the views of old mystics such as Newton.By Newton laws the electron of the hydrogen atom should move silently in an ellipse around the proton,by Einstein and Bohr it should move in a fixed circle without any reason.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhere is the truth, by the theories of old mystics,that explain logically not only the observed movements of the planets but also the atomic spectra of all chemical elements,or by Quanta, that can explain neither of the two?
No single real phenomenon can be explained logically by Quanta.The hypothetical entities invented for Quanta,such as photons,leptons ,bosons,hadrons etc, cannot be found because they do not exist.
I believe that the point of Schrodinger's cat is the apparent absurdity of attributing quantum effects to the macro world since the superposition of the radioactive atom—decayed and not decayed—would parallel the superposition of the cat—dead and not dead until observed—which is paradoxical.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat this article appears to be saying is that since quantum entanglement has been inferred in certain macro processes one can hypothesize that only decoherence prevents us from seeing that quantum effects predominate all the way up the macro scale.
The alternative—and I believe mainstream—view is that the quantum world undergoes a phase transition to the macro world at some level of complexity, hence what are insubstantial atoms at the quantum level somehow become solid matter.
It would be interesting if both quantum and classical effects turned out to coexist, with neither dominating the other, as the examples of macro entanglement might seem to suggest. Maybe quantum and classical physics are complementary rather than antagonistic points of view.
As a non-scientist, I've got two questions about the entire article:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1) As far as quantum particles being able to take all paths simultaneously, why does the author suggest that the plant's actions goes to "reducing the chance the electron will take a wasteful detour and increasing the chance it will be steered straight to the reaction centre"? By that I mean I'm curious as to why "wasteful" is invoked...does a particle lose energy by covering every path simultaneously? If the particle is everywhere simultaneously, it will be in the right place immediately, in any case, right?
2) re Observing the observer inset article...curious on how the photon/mirror experiment is analogous to the cat experiment...specifically, the author argues that the mirror recoiling is like the cat living/dying AND the observer seeing the cat live or die...in what way is the mirror recoiling analogous to Bob in that story?
Good place to get answers to these questions if not here?
Fascinating reading, and the caooents are pretty good also. I don't get the idea that there is some line that can be drawn between quantum mechanics and classical physics or whatever. You all know anyway, that if you draw a line like that, it immediately takes on a life of its own and squirms and wriggles all over the place.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThough uneducated in physics, quantum or otherwise, I am a keen and well educated observer of human and social systems. I see much in common between quantum mechanics and the social sciences. One relationship in particular is that with Economics.
After all, no one knows what either are really about. Touch one thing and you change something somewhere else. Things can exist in two or more places simultaneously, like asset values and traded commodities. Some stuff can exist only in the perception of the observer and not exist anywhere else. Sometimes observations alter reality.
I'm serious about this. I think that some enlightened thinkers might be able to add greatly by looking to QM to understand the world Economy. It is already known how Evolutionary Science is replicated in business growth, change and evolution. Look for the threads.
quanta do not exist,Photons,bosons,hadrons etc. do not exist.Ask the Bevatron, the Tevatron, the LHC or the Sun.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis Bruce Voigt guy is a trip isn't he? I'm waiting for him to argue for the existence of ether next. Unfortunately the construction of complex unsupported theories with the veneer of hypertechnicality and neologisms (eg "cozillions")is delusional behavior indicative of schizoid pathology. Get help Bruce.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYour example makes sense to me. I often ponder these questions myself, wondering if some of the observed effects are not best explained by wave behaviors not often discussed explicitly except perhaps among physics specialists.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn particular, the seemingly absurd view that a particle has only a probability of choosing a specific location until observed seems quite logical in at least one scenario that I envision. [Rather than describe my own scenario in minute detail here, I simply suggest to you that simple wave action behaviors may have been overlooked. In lectures and articles I have studied, it seems that much honest work has been clouded during analysis, causing observers to miss the obvious explanations as to all general questions regarding particle "manifestation" at specific locations, entanglement and action at a distance, all within the normal actions of energy waves, including the possibility that no entity is actually solid.
Mr. Voigt: novelty is not more important than coherence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisON THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE AMINO ACIDS DISCERN BETWEEN TWO QUANTUM SPIN STATES
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisElio Conte
School of Advanced International Studies for Applied Theoretical and Non Linear Methodologies of Physics, Bari-Italy;
Department of Pharmacology and Human Physiology, and Tires: Center for Innovative Technologies for Signal Detection and Processing, Department of Physics ,University of Bari, Italy.
E-mail : elio.conte@fastwebnet.it
ABSTRACT
Starting with 1985, we discovered the possible existence of electrons with net helicity in biomolecules as amino acids and their possibility to discern between the two quantum spin states. It is well known that the question of a possible fundamental role of quantum mechanics in biological matter constitutes still a long debate. In the last ten years we have given a rather complete quantum mechanical elaboration entirely based on Clifford algebra whose basic entities are isomorphic to the well known spin Pauli matrices. A number of our recent results indicate the possible logical origin of quantum mechanics (for detail see www.saistmp.com) . In February 2011 the authors B Gölder,V. Hamelbeck, T.Z. Markus, M. Kettner, G.F. Hanne ,Z. Vager,R. Naaman, H. Zacharis published their important discovery on Science about Spin Selectivity in Electron Transmission Through Self-Assembled Monolayers of Double-Stranded DNA confirming in such manner that the principles of quantum mechanics apply to biological systems .
Chirality is the property of an object to exist as distinguishable mirror image forms that are known as enantiomers. The chemistry of life is intrinsically homochiral. Biological molecules such as sugars, amino acids and DNA exist almost exclusively as only one enantiomer.
The identification of the mechanisms for such asymmetry is of tremendous interest, first to explain the manner as they acted at the origin of life but also because understanding such mechanisms may allow valuable applications as , in principle, more efficient asymmetric synthesis of pharmaceuticals.
In information mechanics a problem is related to understand the transmission of the information message at the different levels of the given biological organism. Generally speaking , the filtration and the enrichment effects accompany both local direction of transmission information . Biologic information , using some preferential channels, may cross several structural levels overcoming filtering and bluffering effects. As example, the genetic information starts from the microscopic gene level and arrives at the macroscopic body level without errors . In the reverse direction of transmission information , the basic psychological functions of the body as the “will” , the cognitive performances or other mental activities are conveyed for a prompt execution into the cellular level . We have given a number of scientific results on the possibility of quantum mechanics to have a role at the human perceptive-cognitive level.
Our papers outline the possible significant roles of the basic Clifford algebraic unities. In the standard language of quantum mechanics they are isomorphic to spin Pauli matrices and thus to the spin. In several papers , see www.saistmp.com , we have shown the logical origin of quantum mechanics by using such algebraic Clifford formulation and thus such algebraic unities. Substantially we retain that the living matter has developed special means in the course of its evolution in order to avoid the filtering or blurring effects in information message dynamics. A very powerful mechanism of information filtration is due to symmetry effects [1] which should annihilate the symmetrical directed parameters of an information message . The living matter structures should have learned the manner to avoid such filtering effects due to symmetry by using highly asymmetric components. Because of these fundamental questions , chirality is so important in biomolecules. The role of the abstract Clifford entities could have had and still should have a basic and fundamental role. It is important to evidence the nature of such problem having previously shown , as said, the possible role of quantum mechanics , and , in particular, of our Clifford algebraic quantum mechanical formulation at the human level of perceptive-cognitive performance.
In 1957 [2] Vester and Ulbricht postulated a causal relationship between the parity-non conserving aspect of weak interactions and the observed asymmetry of the molecules in living organisms. The universal chirality involved in the weak interaction could have influenced the selection of exclusively D-sugars and DNA and L-amino acids for proteins. The assumption was that the weak interactions, violating parity, prospected an inherent dyssimetric influence in physical world . Parity violating effects should have provided an unequivocal and determinate account of dominant handedness of the basic biomolecules . Asymmetry should have been developed during chemical evolution or during biological evolution assuming that the molecules synthesized abiologically were racemic but that such physical agent depleted one of the enantiomers before the first reproductive biological units existed.
In 1968 A.S Garay obtained a number of positive experimental results in this direction and with P. Hrasko he also formulated a physical model of the interaction [3,4] . Researchers at an international level promptly investigated the problem following different theoretical and experimental approaches and methodologies . We press the reader to analyse in depth the obtained results also if we report here an absolutely incomplete list [5]. The studies covered a broad range and , in particular, the calculation of the energy difference between enantiomers due to weak interaction, scattering of electrons from enantiomers and production of asymmetry by weak interaction and possible amplification effects .
Here are the basic points of our technical comment.
a)The Vester-Ulbricht suggestion was that the chirality of the biomolecules originated from the - radiolysis of prebiotic racemic mixtures.
b) All the experimental results still to day remain inconclusiveness owing to the very restricted differences that were experimentally observed . A datum was certainly established : actually the -particles, because of their helicity, radiolyse D- and L- enantiomers at slightly different rates.
The obtained asymmetric values were and are not evaluated to be sufficient to completely assign a definitive role to weak interactions in order to accept that biomolecules originated from - radiolysis of the prebiotic racemic mixture.
c) In brief, the original Vester and Ulbricht hypothesis remains suspended under the profile of the problem of prebiotic-biotic chemical evolution but remains ascertained that asymmetry is produced by the asymmetric decomposition of the chiral monomers by spin polarized -particles. This last statement is the essential point of the present comment. The verification of such existing effect induces obviously the possibility to formulate a model of biomolecules.
We performed three kinds of experiments.
The first investigation aimed to investigate the asymmetrical interaction of polarized electrons from beta decay with D- and L- Alanines using ESR measurements and compared with decomposition induced from .using a similar kind of investigation performed by Bernestein et al. and Bonner et al. [6]. All the details of the experimentation are exposed in such papers. It was obtained that asymmetrical yields induced in -beta –irradiated Alanine are 10% more in D- respect to L-Alanine.
The second experiment related investigation on the chirality of positrons emitted from decay and their asymmetrical interaction with D-,L-, and DL-Alanines.
In condensed materials, positrons slow down within sec to energies of about 10 eV before annihilation. We consider two ways: by annihilation on free electrons which takes place in sec or by formation of positronium . In the last mode Ps atoms are formed in singlet (spin = 0 ) or triplet (spin = 1) states, in the relative proportion of 1:3, but different lifetimes . A number of experiments has shown that positrons emitted in radioactive decay partly retain their longitudinal polarization during slowing down and Ps formation. Since the singlet annihilation of positronium results in two 0.511 MeV gamma rays while the triplet annihilation of positronium occurs with the emission of three complanar gamma rays having total energy of 1.022 Mev , we estimated the differences in the singlet (triplet) formation and annihilation of positronium in D-,L-,DL-Alanines by counting the effective number of 0.511 MeV emitted gamma rays from equal samples of D-,L-DL-Alanines bombarded by the same number of positrons. The experiment was performed by using sophisticated Canberra-gamma spectrometry apparatus . The results of the experimentation are reported in [7] with a detailed Table of the results. As expected , three main peaks were recorded by gamma ray spectroscopy. and differences between D- and L-Alanines were ascertained with a statistical significance of 99.5%.
In the third experiment we considered conceptually that the electrons in optically active biomolecules posses net helicity. This is of course the conclusion arising from our previous experimentation also in accord with the previous formulations in [3,4].We may consider each enantiomer as a kind of non interacting electron gas in each of which the electrons are of different helicity and have a different law of dispersion. Here, in one isomer the electrons are indeed polarized predominantly parallel to their motion and in the other isomer the electrons are polarized predominantly antiparallel to their motion. Let us consider the interaction (Compton scattering). Considering the usual Klein-Nishima expression for cross section , corrected for accounting for acting polarizations, we will have different expressions for one enantiomer respect to the other. In brief, assuming that the two enantiomers of biomolecules are polarized predominantly parallel and , respectively, antiparallel to their motion , the interaction with circularly polarized photons will give maximum of the interaction peaked, respectively, at different energies , and (for details see ref.[8]).The existence of such predicted difference was confirmed during our experimentation. During the slow down in matter of free positrons to thermal energies , a significant number of Ps was formed combining their electron binding. From positronium annihilation in singlet state if one photon of 0.511 MeV was emitted with left circular polarization, the other 0.511 MeV photon was emitted with right circular polarization. Assuming that a net correlation between the direction of the motion and the spin of the electrons in the optically active materials exists, a Compton effect should arise between the 0.511 MeV polarized annihilation)(singlet state of the positronium) and the electrons with net helicity in the two enantiomers respectively. Consequently , different values of the energies and , previously detailed, should be observed. This is precisely the result that we obtained using the chirality of positrons from decay and their asymmetrical interactions with D. and L. Alanines. We used the same Canberra experimental apparatus and the statistical significance of the results was obtained with 99.5%. The results are reported in detail in [8]. We gave demonstration on the existence of electrons with net helicity in biomolecules.
The results of the whole set of experimentation here reported, seem to indicate that the amino acids discern between the two quantum spin states. The role of quantum mechanics in biological systems, as prospected in its generalized articulation in the abstract of such brief comment, would represent a basic step of scientific investigation.
References
1. A. Ciplea,L.J.Ciplea, The Information Mechanics in Biology, Cybernetica, 2,141,(1976).
2. F. Vester,T.L.V.Ulbricht ,H.Krauch, Optiche Aktivatund die Paritatsverleztubg in beta-zerfall, Naturwissenschhaften,46.68, (1959)
3. A. S. Garay, Origin and Role of Optical Isomery in Life, Nature, 219,338,(1968).
4. A.S. Garay,L.Keszthelyi,I.Demeter,P.Hrasko, Differences in the Annihilation of Positrons in Optical Isomers, Chemical Physics Letters, 23,549,(1973).
5. Papers presented at the conference on Chiral Symmetry Breaking in Physics, Chemistry, and Biolgy,
Bio Systems,Special Issue, 20,1-114,(1987).
6. E. Conte, Investigation on the Asymmetrical Induced Yields in -beta-Irradiated D- and L- Alanines, Orgins of Life, 17,51,(1986).
7. E. Conte, M. Pieralice, Investigation on the Chirality of Positrons from decay and their Asymmetrical Interactions with D-,L-,and DL- Alanines, Il Nuovo Cimento, 9D,283,(1987).
8. E. Conte, On the Asymmetrical Interaction of Positrons from decay with Homochiral Molecules : a Proof on the Existence of Electrons with Net Helicity in Biomolecules, Il Nuovo Cimento , 101 A,683, (1989).
9. For studies on our Clifford algebraic formulation of quantum mechanics and its application at cognitive level , see www.saistmp.com
10. The paper published on Science is quoted in the following manner :
B. Gohler, V. Hamelbeck, T. Z. Markus, M. Kettner, G. F. Hanne, Z. Vager, R. Naaman, H. Zacharias. Spin Selectivity in Electron Transmission Through Self-Assembled Monolayers of Double-Stranded DNA.Science, 2011; 331 (6019): 894 DOI:10.1126/science.1199339
This fascinating exploration of a relationship or binding of quantum phenomena and the Newtonian Einstein universe is ongoing and has opened more questions than answers. We simply do not have all the information to draw an exact model of the nature of the universe. Speculation and theory is fine but certainty is closed mindedness. I lean toward the concept that statistics and probabilities are only as good as the questions asked and that is how we humans define our perspective of the universe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat is keeping use from using entangled photons from distant stars to communicate instantly with other civilizations.Just set up 2 2 slit experiments and direct the starlight to them splitting the light to go to each one.In each you set up 2 fiber optics where the wave pattern is, one in the dark and one in the light now take all four optics and attach each of them to photo-detectors with each connected to an off on toggles.You then turn off all of them.Next you turn on the detectors in the dark areas.Now you can turn on either of the detectors in the lighted area.This will cause a wave function drop in both experiments with light now falling on the dark area detectors and setting them off.Thus you can use the experiments like a telegraph.Wave Function present=1,wave function drop=0 in other-words you have a binary connection.Now all you need someone else on another planet with the same experiments setup viewing the same star from the same distance away as we are and walla instantaneous communication across light-years.We are already looking for other Earth like planets when we do find one look around for a star that is the same distance away from it as we are and try to make a connection.Who knows maybe someone out there has already found us and is trying to talk with us this using this method.If my logic is wrong on this idea.Please post at this site why you think it will work or not work?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe thesis that we have ubiquitous quantum structures seems in agreement with our present status of scientific knowledge. Of course there is the old debate on the possible role of consciousness in quantum phenomena. We quote here only von Neumann. He introduced some basic postulates that still to day are adopted in quantum measurement approach and evidenced the possible role of consciousness.We have had advances under such profile All the references are www.saistmp.com we have the references.The basic von Neumann postulates have been demonstrated by using two theorems in Clifford algebra. We have obtained for the first time a mathematical explanation of the collapse of the wave function. For the first time quantum mechanics has been applied also in experiments involving our human cognitive functions. The result has been that we have quantum interference in human cognition as well as in the direct physical cases. Another result. Von Neumann showed that logic derives from quantum mechanics. We have obtained inverted results. We have realized logic statements and we have demonstrated that they give quantum interference . Conclusions: The first is on the Logical Origins of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics also relates our mental entities. The second. In the centuries always we have attempted to separate matter from mind entities. The new arising result is that there stages of our reality in which we no more may consider matter per se. There are stages of our reality in which matter no more may be separated from the cognition that we have about it. Mind entities and matter find here their condition of congruence.This is a turning point. Quantum mechanics says us more than we could be induced to admit at the first its inspection.Still consider Jung theory of psychology : a discipline that from years is missing of a strong scientific structure. Jung theory may be reformulated in quantum mechanical terms and its ability to violate Bell inequalities may be evidenced by detailed experiments. We repeat : all the references are in www.saistmp.com.Consider the recent book entitled Advances in Application of Quantum Mechanics in Neuroscience and Psychology -Nova Science Publishers -2012(https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_48_69&products_id=26712) : all such advances are discussed in detail in the field of the neuroscience (see as example the chapter on the mirror neurons) as well as in psychology.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPages of speculation, no evidence, confused pop-writing. Although it certainly is true that we live in a quantum world. Our computers, cell phones, tv's and radios, just to name a few, could not run without quantum mechanical operations. Even a super-macro object like the Sun couldn't warm and light up the Earth if we didn't live in a quantum world. So it should not be surprising that we live in a very active quantum mechanical world operating all around us. But the purpose of this article is to try to suggest that maybe-just-maybe biological systems could possibly put quantum entanglement to use in biological operations. Well... maybe... and well... maybe not. A great science article would be one with some great science in it.
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