Sense of Smell Tied To Quantum Physics? 169
SpaceAdmiral writes "A controversial theory that proposes that our sense of smell is based not on the shape of the molecules that enter our nose but on their vibrations was given a boost recently when University College London researchers determined that the quantum physics involved makes sense. The theory, proposed in the mid-1990s by biophysicist Luca Turin, suggests that electron tunneling initiates the smell signal being sent to the brain. It could explain why similarly shaped molecules can have very different smells, and molecules with very different structures can smell similar." Turin has now formed a company to design odorants using his theory, and claims an advantage over the competition of two orders of magnitude in rate of discovery. The article concludes, "At the very least, he is putting his money where his nose is."
Re:Raised eyebrows... (Score:4, Interesting)
Quantum Chemistry (Score:1, Interesting)
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He had me until this sentence (although the line that he found the theory interesting enough to refute was a very nice touch).
Electrons, photons, and protons are all merely models to explain in tangible terms what the **** is going on down there, so I become skeptical when these terms are utilized to explain/demonstrate quantum mechanics. We know how to use electricity, buy it, sell it, how to protect our kids from it, yet we really don't know what it is. Two and a half degrees in Chemistry has taught me little that's applicable to the English speaking world, save this: we don't have a clue what's going on at that level of reality, but we're absolutely certain it involoves nothing at all that could be described as little balls orbiting other balls and emitting electrical charges. That's merely a model to make sense of it, and an imitation of life at best.
Something else about Quantum Mechanics/Chemistry: If what anyone says doesn't sound medeival, they're probably thinking too hard and incorrectly. It's gotta sound really strange or it's not QM/C.
Re:tied to quantum physics (Score:5, Interesting)
probably never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to
be understood. But it is true that if we look at a glass of wine closely
enough we see the entire universe. There are the things of physics: the
twisting liquid which evaporates depending on the wind and weather, the
reflections in the glass, and our imagination adds the atoms. The glass is
a distillation of the earth's rocks, and in its composition we see the
secrets of the universe's age, and the evolution of stars. What strange
array of chemicals are in the wine? How did they come to be? There are the
ferments, the enzymes, the substrates, and the products. There in wine is
found the great generalization: all life is fermentation. Nobody can
discover the chemistry of wine without discovering, as did Louis Pasteur, the
cause of much disease. How vivid is the claret, pressing its existence into
the consciousness that watches it! If our small minds, for some
convenience, divide this glass of wine, this universe, into parts --
physics, biology, geology, astronomy, psychology, and so on -- remember that
nature does not know it! So let us put it all back together, not forgetting
ultimately what it is for. Let it give us one more final pleasure: drink it
and forget it all!
- Richard P. Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, v. 1, p. 3-10
(This lecture is also one of the six lectures featured in a book &
audio edition entitled "Six Easy Pieces")
Re:Raised eyebrows... (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, there seems to be quite a lot of noise in our brain. [zdnet.com]
Re:Raised eyebrows... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Raised eyebrows... (Score:2, Interesting)
The idea seems plausible to me, at least it is worth investigating. What it proposes is a new way a receptor could be triggered by a molecule. Here, once the molecule has 'docked' into the receptor, if its electronic vibrations are matched to the receptor it will allow a charge to tunnel from one part of the receptor protein to another, triggering a larger reaction (like in photosynthesis). So, this receptor can detect electronic vibrations.
Actually, I think that how receptors and other membrane proteins work is fairly poorly understood (compared to other areas of physics), and there is a lot of research time going into it. Even the protein for photosynthesis isn't totally understood (though we know a lot). Last summer I was considering doing some modelling of a potassium channel, a homolog of the one essential to our nervous system. "The" potassium channel. Actually, we don't really know how it works! Previous models have suggested that some charged cylinders slide through the protein, pulled by the potential across the membrane and causing it to open, however the new theory (based on the recent crystallography data) is that it is actually a charged lever that gets pulled by the potential, opening the channel as it tilts. In other words, we still in the educated guessing stage, even for this essential protein.
My Point: How these proteins work really isn't understood. The idea seems plausible on surface glance. Maybe this guy is on to something big!
Re:Penrose and Quantum Consciousness (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:+5 informative? Mods been trolled (Score:2, Interesting)
Understood about confusing glycine & alanine, but when you're pointing out chiral recognition and you choose as an example the one and only non-chiral amino acid, somebody's gonna call you on it.
Re:Raised eyebrows... (Score:4, Interesting)