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(Ars Technica) Cool Plants use quantum physics for photosynthesis. Your move, animals   (arstechnica.com) divider line 40
More: Cool, photosynthesis, plants, animals, quantum physics, chlorophylls, power transfers, cohesiveness, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus  
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2955 clicks; posted to Geek » on 06 Dec 2011 at 10:36 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



40 Comments   (+0 »)
   
 
Fubini
2011-12-06 10:43:34 PM
Shouldn't it be "Your move, zombies"
 
pup.socket
2011-12-06 10:54:33 PM
I won't be surprised too much if it turns out that the nervous system uses quantum effects to process information.
 
Unright
2011-12-06 10:55:28 PM
Animals eat plants for energy. So, animals win.

Good job on that quantum thing, plants.
 
sinanju
2011-12-06 11:03:52 PM
At one point someone posited bees used quantum physics for their dance. Sadly, I think it was disproved.
 
the_sidewinder [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 11:08:45 PM
I use quantum physics to store music on my phone
 
xylitol
2011-12-06 11:09:32 PM
Protip: Everything uses quantum physics in one sense or another.
 
The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
2011-12-06 11:15:56 PM
Quantum physics are brought to you by fractals and the self-organizing principle.
 
moralpanic
2011-12-06 11:17:42 PM
There's theories of quantum mechanics in brain and olfactory activities already.

The quantum mechanics of smell (new window)
 
Arkanaut
2011-12-06 11:32:05 PM
Uh, we use quantum physics for LASERS.
 
Harry_Seldon
2011-12-06 11:33:06 PM
Does this explain why Almond trees sometimes feel like a nut, and sometimes, they don't?
 
prjindigo
2011-12-06 11:33:41 PM
Animals use positronic capacitors for storing short term energy.

Back to YOU vegitables!
 
Clowns are a Ten
2011-12-06 11:36:04 PM
Is quantum physics the same thing as quantum mechanics? If so, I wouldn't understand how this is surprising. Isn't quantum mechanics just a theory of how atoms and such act and react to each other?

/forgive me, my only knowledge of this subject is from NOVA.
 
SnakeLee [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 11:45:31 PM
So if this thread is right and animals also use quantum physics, shouldn't it be next move fungi, single celled organisms and uh....(checks Wikipedia).......that bluish green algae or some shiat?
 
Biiirdmaaan!
2011-12-06 11:50:04 PM
xylitol: Protip: Everything uses quantum physics in one sense or another.

pretty much This.
 
whither_apophis
2011-12-06 11:51:55 PM
Geckos exploit van der Waals forces to cling to glass.

/Humans used to make neat watches from uranium too
 
Harry_Seldon
2011-12-06 11:56:29 PM
Biiirdmaaan!: xylitol: Protip: Everything uses quantum physics in one sense or another.

pretty much This.

My cat just collapsed on her wave function.
 
JasonOfOrillia
2011-12-07 12:02:55 AM
Unright: Animals eat plants for energy. So, animals win.

Good job on that quantum thing, plants.

Triangle-man eats animals for energy.

Triangle wins.
 
Lord Jubjub [TotalFark]
2011-12-07 12:09:09 AM
Clowns are a Ten: Is quantum physics the same thing as quantum mechanics? If so, I wouldn't understand how this is surprising. Isn't quantum mechanics just a theory of how atoms and such act and react to each other?

/forgive me, my only knowledge of this subject is from NOVA.

I read a Scientific American article about 35 years ago that described the chemistry of photosynthesis. It sounded a lot like quantum mechanics then.

/I did have to read that article four times to clearly understand it.
//Is every popular science magazine out there no longer going for anything but the lowest common denominator?
 
Clowns are a Ten
2011-12-07 12:15:18 AM
Lord Jubjub: Clowns are a Ten: Is quantum physics the same thing as quantum mechanics? If so, I wouldn't understand how this is surprising. Isn't quantum mechanics just a theory of how atoms and such act and react to each other?

/forgive me, my only knowledge of this subject is from NOVA.

I read a Scientific American article about 35 years ago that described the chemistry of photosynthesis. It sounded a lot like quantum mechanics then.

/I did have to read that article four times to clearly understand it.
//Is every popular science magazine out there no longer going for anything but the lowest common denominator?

DID YOU KNOW THAT WHEN YOU MIX MENTOS AND COKE IT BLOWS UP?!
 
Makh [TotalFark]
2011-12-07 12:18:15 AM
Harry_Seldon: Biiirdmaaan!: xylitol: Protip: Everything uses quantum physics in one sense or another.

pretty much This.

My cat just collapsed on her wave function.

I have observed this to be true.
 
JasonOfOrillia
2011-12-07 12:22:44 AM
Makh: Harry_Seldon: Biiirdmaaan!: xylitol: Protip: Everything uses quantum physics in one sense or another.

pretty much This.

My cat just collapsed on her wave function.

I have observed this to be true.

Have you? (new window)
 
codergirl42
2011-12-07 12:36:43 AM
sinanju: At one point someone posited bees used quantum physics for their dance. Sadly, I think it was disproved.

Yeah i've also head people say that bee's and birds use quantum effects to navigate using the earth's magnetic field.
 
bhcompy
2011-12-07 01:06:28 AM
I do farking quantum physics when I try to hit a Mariano Rivera cutter
 
J. Frank Parnell
2011-12-07 01:08:25 AM
Our mitochondria use sugars and fats to produce the electricity which allows us to move and think.

Your move, minerals.
 
abb3w [TotalFark]
2011-12-07 01:16:29 AM
Now, how to use this to build a doomsday device....
 
mah_bucket
2011-12-07 02:11:41 AM
if plants use Quantum mechanics for photosynthesis, we must be using a very similar system for our mitochondria. Specifically ATP synthase. Link (new window)
 
SN1987a goes boom
2011-12-07 02:33:29 AM
That's really not all that interesting of a result. If you found a plant doing something like forming quasi-crystalline structures in a natural environment, then maybe I'd get excited.
 
tankjr
2011-12-07 08:39:58 AM
content.ytmnd.com
 
jfarkinB
2011-12-07 08:40:36 AM
If you find a process that involves photons and doesn't use quantum physics, I'd love to hear about it.
 
FlameDuck
2011-12-07 08:59:56 AM
Plants use something called "Quantum coherence" according to article and wikipedia, but reading the articles didn't help my understanding. But it is supposed to be super efficient way to transfer energy, thus making plants grow, I guess.

Does this mean future kids will learn quantum mechanics in biology?
 
TheMysteriousStranger
2011-12-07 09:42:21 AM
Every chemical reaction "uses" quantum physics. Every living being has thousands of them.
 
KiltedBastich
2011-12-07 09:51:12 AM
abb3w: Now, how to use this to build a doomsday device....

Nahh, think bigger. How do we use this to turn all plants everywhere into doomsday devices?

www.warehouse23.com

/oblig
//My favorite shirt to wear while running a game
 
sinanju
2011-12-07 09:51:52 AM
codergirl42: sinanju: At one point someone posited bees used quantum physics for their dance. Sadly, I think it was disproved.

Yeah i've also head people say that bee's and birds use quantum effects to navigate using the earth's magnetic field.

Actually, it was the bee dance itself that was supposed to be representative of six-dimensional flag manifold.
 
YodaBlues
2011-12-07 10:55:17 AM
Harry_Seldon: Biiirdmaaan!: xylitol: Protip: Everything uses quantum physics in one sense or another.

pretty much This.

My cat just collapsed on her wave function.

Mine is stuck on string theory.

"If everything is made of string, I can eat everythi-BALLOFYARN!"
 
ZER0T0THEC0RE
2011-12-07 01:57:51 PM
FlameDuck: Plants use something called "Quantum coherence" according to article and wikipedia, but reading the articles didn't help my understanding. But it is supposed to be super efficient way to transfer energy, thus making plants grow, I guess.

Does this mean future kids will learn quantum mechanics in biology?


I'll bet in the 19th century people wondered if future kids would learn about protein chemistry in biology.

//And the answer (for my experience) is not unless you are taking an AP or college level biology course, and even then you will probably only learn about the basics.
 
Raoul Eaton
2011-12-07 03:34:57 PM
jfarkinB: If you find a process that involves photons and doesn't use quantum physics, I'd love to hear about it.

I'm using quantum physics to write this comment.
 
Nasal_Avenger
2011-12-07 04:44:51 PM
Subby made me lol.
 
enmaku
2011-12-07 05:29:49 PM
"Multiple experiments in recent years have suggested as much, but it's been hard to be sure."

/That was a little quantum joke y'all.
//Very little
///Recursive joke is recursive.
 
kungfro
2011-12-08 01:37:54 PM
jfarkinB: If you find a process that involves photons and doesn't use quantum physics, I'd love to hear about it.

CAME HERE FOR THIS.
 
abb3w [TotalFark]
2011-12-09 11:31:25 PM
KiltedBastich: Nahh, think bigger. How do we use this to turn all plants everywhere into doomsday devices?

Hmm... quantity has a quality all its own.
 
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