The Magical Leaf: The Quantum Mechanics of Photosynthesis

This little movie, based on an excerpt from Michael Brooks' latest book, "At The Edge Of Uncertainty," describes the quantum mechanical actions behind plant photosynthesis. Includes a glimpse of how a plant absorbs photon energy and converts into its own growth cycle.

[Cranndaddy]

As a biochem graduate who has a keen interest in quantum physics etc, this has absolutely blown my mind. Superposition and entanglement etc have always fascinated me and I’ve probably only just really started even appreciating the implications it has on the nature of the world. The fact this is evidenced in photosynthesis is just fucking insane. (I’m aware it will actually be present everywhere to an extent but it’s significance in this reaction is mental)

[FrazzleDazzle]

Just as the concept behind this piece suggests, we can also conceive both evolution & creation working simultaneously, though the will of the Creator must precede the evolutionary process. It’s all part of a harmonious expression of the beauty of our reality.

[rangjungyeshe]

Loved this - nice, clear animation and voice over.

[maskedmarvyl]

I always wondered why chlorophyll and photosynthesis wasn't being applied in solar panels. Glad to see that's being studied.

[AlexHop]

Why is the photon able to use quantum mechanics to zip to the reaction center in a leaf but doesn't zip to where it's needed in a silicon photo cell? What makes the photon want to go to the reaction center of a leaf?

[theultimatereductionist]

I would love to know if there exist any significant relativistic effects of moving electrons and protons in biology.

[pranavthummar]

Our food is basically sun's energy. It traveled from sun to our stomach.

[robertpawlsoky]

I believe one can still debate super position. We do pay homage to our mighty quantum creators but lets us keep an open mind.

[therealbenhur]

Plants and trees are friggin amazing. They transcend time.

[alfadog]

What if, instead of in photons using superposition to navigate toward the energy center, the bridging area were composed of one-way waveguides, each acting as a polarized diode, and lighting the electrical path for photons to follow?
Or... what if the bridging area itself were capable of capturing and re-transmitting (reflecting) photons... If it's all green inside a plant, then capturing a couple of red/blue photons should cause the atoms to exert green photons, which will be reflected the rest of the way to the absorption particle. Perhaps plants simply use the colors of light to guide it.

[sliefox]

Bruh when he said we can do this on our own I literally thought he meant we’ll never have to eat again just get sunlight to live lmao

[WelcomeTheDamned]

I dont get it how does the superposition collapse to one probability, doesnt that require an observer? is the plant considered an observer?

[grgabby]

you think it was trial and error? how many errors did it need to have before it worked out?

[Kento_nanami_the_nd]

Thanks for this. The animation is epic. Helped a lot.

[dusanroncevic]

There is no superposition of states. That electron travels as one electron, one wave which is as big as it wants to be to get where it travels. It is not one particle, it is a rather big wave which can become a particle if it "wants" to, most surely so after it gets to a reaction center.

[Nano-n]

About Quantum Superposition we can’t know unless we measured it..but in the plants?? What if we measure it somehow??

[stefankoning]

Such an incredibly neat system does NOT fall into place by accident. This is another stunning masterpiece of the Designer.

[RegistroDominio-og]

I was trading USDT with a friend but we fell out because of something. She gave me an OKX wallet code and asked me to withdraw the remaining USDT. What is this? How do I do this? Please tell me

[jayabratabiswas]

Kindly explain in details how the energy / photon are absorbed by clorofil and energy is transferred in quantam level... 🙏🙏

[towerofresonance]

I don't understand superpositioning too well but I read back in 2011 that quantum entanglement was proven. And now in 2023, it has been put through many rigorous tests only to prove itself over and over again... With that said, with something that has more than one state at a time can also interact with itself and others of its kind over enormous distances.