algae knew about quantum mechanics nearly two billion years before humans
Now THAT is some kinda statement by the University of Toronto Professor Greg Scholes. In a paper published in Nature he goes on to explain how the Algae seem to be using “classical” quantum mechanics to transfer sunlight from their receptors to their storage areas.
We were astonished to find clear evidence of long-lived quantum mechanical states … the energy of absorbed light resides in two places at once – a quantum superposition state, or coherence – and such a state lies at the heart of quantum mechanical theory.
OK, my job seems a lot less significant this week. I guess I’ll have to feel a bit better by using the Weenie joke, that McMaster launched the career of a Nobel Prize winning researcher, Scholes. He’s known for the Black and Scholes forumla. I wonder if Greg will be known for the Light’n’ Sholes theory. Ba dum dum!
More found here: http://fwix.com/toronto/share/e6c1cc90a6/Scientists_find_quantum_mechanics_at_work_in_photosynthesis