Discover 3

FROM LEFT: ALISON MACKEY/DISCOVER; PASIEKA/SCIENCE SOURCE

electron delivers it to another molecule

dubbed the reaction center, which con-

verts that light into chemical energy to

feed the plant. Scientists always thought

the process looked almost too efficient

because very little excess energy is lost in

the process.

Then in 2007, researchers started to

suspect quantum physics was behind

this efficiency. The electron could use the

quantum effect of superposition, where a

particle can be in two places at once, to

test several routes to the reaction center

where photosynthesis takes place, and

take the most efficient one. The concept

isn’t yet proven, but it has gained traction.

Neven says scientists are now careful not

to dismiss such ideas outright.

For example, in a recent Nature Physics

paper, physicist Neill Lambert of the

Advanced Science Institute in Japan

called out new photosynthesis research as

remarkable just for suggesting quantum

effects can happen in biological systems at

room temperature.

And most recently, Rod Eckenhoff, a

University of Pennsylvania researcher and

Hameroff critic, gave tadpoles anesthetics

to tease out what molecules they bind

Orch-OR Theory

"Orchestrated Objective Reduction"

This theory of quantum consciousness developed by Stuart Hameroff
and Sir Roger Penrose suggests that tiny cellular structures called
microtubules underlie conscious thought.

SUPERPOSITION

Space

Time

NEURON

SYNAPSE

So What Is Objective Reduction?

Wave form collapses

Two possible particle paths through

space-time

Ceases to exist

Cell body

Source: “Consciousness in the Universe: A Review of the ‘Orch OR’
Theory,” Physics of Life Reviews, 2014.

Dendrites

Axon The human brain is packed with cells called neurons that connect via networks

of axons and dendrites. These pass signals

across minute spaces called synaptic

gaps. The classical view says thought is

born from these connections

between neurons.

Orch-OR, on the other hand, suggests that

consciousness originates from quantum

interactions in the microtubules inside each cell.

A particle

exists in

multiple places

at once —

superposition

— until it's

observed.

Traditional quantum mechanics says that a physical system doesn’t have
definite properties until it’s observed — an act known as collapsing a wave
function. For example, in Erwin Schrödinger’s classic thought experiment,
a cat in a box is both dead and alive — known as superposition
— until observed as one or the other. So an observation, or
consciousness itself, causes the wave to collapse. OR proposes
the opposite: The collapse gives rise to consciousness.

Microtubules

Becomes reality