? Apocalyptica : One | Main | Tuned to a dead channel ?
July 04, 2010
On the head of a pin
Elisabeth Rieper at the National University of Singapore suggests quantum entanglement holds DNA together.
Hence, quantum biology.
... Rieper and co imagine the helix without any effect from outside heat. "Clearly the chain of coupled harmonic oscillators is entangled at zero temperature," they say. They then go on to show that the entanglement can also exist at room temperature.
That's possible because phonons have a wavelength which is similar in size to a DNA helix and this allows standing waves to form, a phenomenon known as phonon trapping. When this happens, the phonons cannot easily escape. A similar kind of phonon trapping is known to cause problems in silicon structures of the same size.
That's possible because phonons have a wavelength which is similar in size to a DNA helix and this allows standing waves to form, a phenomenon known as phonon trapping. When this happens, the phonons cannot easily escape. A similar kind of phonon trapping is known to cause problems in silicon structures of the same size.
Via Warren Ellis.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at July 4, 2010 08:24 AM