Are brains quantum?
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Are brains quantum?

Hello and welcome once more to New Scientist’s weekly round-up of the best stories in science and technology. Today we’ve got a new kind of wood, ancient life in ancient rocks, and an intriguing idea about the brain.

Nerve fibres in the brain could generate quantum entanglement

The idea that the quantum physics plays a role in the brain, perhaps even in consciousness, is an appealing one because it connects two deep mysteries of science. This story details a theoretical mechanism for generating quantum entanglement in the brain, which could potentially allow distant regions of the brain to coordinate. It’s all fascinating, though much more work is needed if we are to figure out whether it is actually true!

We have discovered an entirely new kind of wood

Midwood sounds to my ear like a magical forest from a Lord of the Rings knock-off, but it’s actually something far more interesting – a new kind of wood, distinct from hardwood or softwood, that may be particularly effective at storing carbon.

Oldest rocks on Earth may contain strange and ancient life forms

This story is a nice bit of detective work, with researchers trying to explain bizarre fossil cells found in 3.8 billion-year-old rocks. By modifying modern cells, which look very different, they have been able to reconstruct the structures found in the fossils, suggesting they are of a very early form of life that was unable to fully control their shape.

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Jacob Aron, News Editor

Mrityu Darpan ??

Polymath | Developing TOE …

6 个月

If by quantum, one means the true workings of the universe then yes, the brain is quantum. On the other hand, if one is restricting oneself to the few equations and properties like quantum entanglement, then I am sorry my friend, the answer is no since the brain and the universe are much more than the confines of limited human understanding developed so far. There were people who existed centuries ago and knew what this brain is but their paths to that answer were different. Labs and mathematics were not needed at the time since they are only intermediate tools. Today, we are taking a different route. Since the destination is same and there is only one true answer to everything, I believe we will reach there eventually. Interestingly, I am on this journey to unravel those answers by merging the two paths from the past and the present. Soon we will know more!

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