Quantum Physics Explanation For Smell

Quantum Physics Explanation For Smell

www.bbc.co.uk

The theory that our sense of smell has its basis in quantum physics events is gaining traction, say researchers.

The idea remains controversial, but scientists reporting at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, US, are slowly unpicking how it could work.

The key, they say, is tiny packets of energy, or quanta, lost by electrons.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I find this absoloutly facsinating

The more we delve into the realms of Quantum Physics, the more things we find that is tied up with it.

It begs the question of what is reality, are we infact just part of a quantum "soup"?

Physics just keeps getting weirder and weirder, it really puts how much we currently know into perspective when new theories such as this gain momentum.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is quite old, why'd you put it up now?

Originally posted by foreshadower99
This is quite old, why'd you put it up now?

If every piece of information that was old was not presented then there would be a heck of a lot less good material on this site.

Just because it may be a little dated does not mean that everyone has seen it or that it has been posted.

The Bible is old as heck and people still post things from it everyday on ATS.

reply to post by foreshadower99


Because I hadn't seen it posted and I find it very interesting

Which I am sure other members here on ATS would also,

The implications are also interesting

reply to post by Resentedhalo08


Lol Im just a bit Jealous cause the first time I saw it I didn't think of putting it up here...even if I did no one reads my threads because Im still "new"

One of the first things that has come into mind when reading this is how this could be developed into a technology, so we can finally have smell-o-vision tv Just imagine, some of these sensors on the end of a tv camera and then it digitally relays the information to your tv at home which is somehow converted into a smell.

I am sure there are far more, serious applications but this is the first that came to my mind

Wait for the "skeptics" (ie materialist fundies) to come in and say quantum anything is nonsense.

For some, being raised in a society that basically worshiped Einstein, makes it hard for people to come to terms with even the fact that yes, it is possible for things to travel faster than the speed of light (entanglement). Let alone any of the other myriad of wonderful and amazing things quantum physics is cracking.

Another interesting application is if you reversed a technology which senses quantum physical smell to a device that emits it. Just imagine a new generation of environmentally friendly airfreshners where the smell is created by this quantum physics effect.

That's certainly an interesting concept...we've been waiting for Smell-o-vision for a while, this might just make it a reality, if they jump on the chance. Just, I'd suggest calling it something else. "Smell-o-vision" is dated... personally, I'd vote for calling it Nasoception.

Originally posted by bsbray11
Wait for the "skeptics" (ie materialist fundies) to come in and say quantum anything is nonsense.

For some, being raised in a society that basically worshiped Einstein, makes it hard for people to come to terms with even the fact that yes, it is possible for things to travel faster than the speed of light (entanglement). Let alone any of the other myriad of wonderful and amazing things quantum physics is cracking.

I just want to point out, quantum entanglement isn't true "faster than light" travel. It's an instantaneous reaction to a probabilistic "decision" made by one half of an entangled pair of particles. This may or may not involve communication at a rate faster than c, but it most certainly does not violate Einstein's "universal speed limit".

I do agree, however, that Quantum Mechanics present a fascinating journey into the deepest, darkest wonders of the reality we inhabit. What we think we see isn't the half of it.

Do we have any physicists here? Anyone who is well versed in quantum mechanics?

I would very much welcome your input and to discuss the possible implications of this

reply to post by Resentedhalo08


already at your service
Though, there's not much to say beyond what I already posted. What would you like to know/hear?

Originally posted by CLPrime
reply to post by Resentedhalo08

 

already at your service
Though, there's not much to say beyond what I already posted. What would you like to know/hear?

haha... ermmmm I'm not too sure really

I'm just interested what the implications of this is, what similar/related discoveries could be next and what technologies could be invented as a result.

I have a basic understanding of physics, but certainly not to degree level or anything!

reply to post by Resentedhalo08


Well, I think it would actually be interesting to connect quantum entanglement with this theory of smell. Imagine if we could wear a device that would transmit the smell information instantaneously, no matter where you are with relation to the transmitter. Not only could you have a TV that sends a smell into the room randomly, but you could have one that sends the smell instantaneously to your nose.

They also mention creating electronic noses that could sense smells as good as the human nose, and be better at determining what substance the smell is from. I think the benefits of this are obvious... detecting certain substances is sometimes a matter of life or death.

So, combining those two, you get a remarkably accurate version of the Smell-o-vision idea, which accurately takes smells directly from one location and transmits them directly to your nose, without having to worry about any of those substances being harmful. In this way it could serve to show people, even, what deadly gases smell like, which could save lives. If you know what a lethal gas smells like from first-hand, non-lethal experience, you might be able to detect it and save yourself, you family, or anyone else who might be affected, before the gas does any harm.

I naturally have the urge to go deep into Quantum Mechanics any time the topic is brought up, but I think this is about as deep as this topic goes. Unless someone else mentions something that makes me think of something more profound.

Originally posted by CLPrime

Originally posted by bsbray11
Wait for the "skeptics" (ie materialist fundies) to come in and say quantum anything is nonsense.

For some, being raised in a society that basically worshiped Einstein, makes it hard for people to come to terms with even the fact that yes, it is possible for things to travel faster than the speed of light (entanglement). Let alone any of the other myriad of wonderful and amazing things quantum physics is cracking.

I just want to point out, quantum entanglement isn't true "faster than light" travel.

I didn't call it "traveling." It's not like you and me can travel faster than light, at least for now. But do you see what I mean though? You're already demonstrating the knee-jerk reaction of having to correct me when what I stated was factually correct as is. Why?

Entanglement has already been measured as having a lower bounds of 10,000x the speed of light.

Quantum weirdness wins again: Entanglement clocks in at 10,000+ times faster than light

By JR Minkel | Aug 13, 2008

No matter how many times researchers try, there's just no getting around the weirdness of quantum mechanics.

In the latest attempt, researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland tried to determine whether entanglement—the fact that measuring a property of one particle instantly determines the property of another—is actually transmitted by some wave-like signal that's fast but not infinitely fast. ...

The photons were indeed entangled, the group reports in Nature. But in reality, no experiment is perfect, so what they end up with is a lower limit on how fast the entanglement could be traveling: 10,000 times the speed of light.

www.scientificamerican.com...

This may or may not involve communication at a rate faster than c

To me this is technical semantics and practically meaningless. Obviously there is an exchange between the two photons, or else we would be measuring nothing. And it's also much faster than the speed of light, possibly instantaneous. So "something" is definitely moving faster than light, which is partially where so many theories of other dimensions we can't perceive come from.


When this should be an amazing discovery and revelation, many people take the other route and try to bash it down because it conflicts with Einstein's thoughts. Einstein was always changing his ideas to fit experimental data, and this data wasn't available when he died. Einstein proved Newton wrong on a couple of points though so it's only fair. Science is always moving on.

Originally posted by Resentedhalo08
Do we have any physicists here? Anyone who is well versed in quantum mechanics?

I would very much welcome your input and to discuss the possible implications of this

I don't think many people here are going to be "well versed" in an area where current research is incomplete and ongoing.

Except to tell you, we aren't done figuring out what this universe is made out of quite yet.

reply to post by bsbray11


Fair enough...I just wanted to prevent anyone from taking what you said and using it to conclude that Quantum Entanglement represents faster-than-light travel. Sometimes, the urge to prevent certain predictable reactions makes me jump on a particular sentence unfairly. That's probably from having to deal with so many Nibiru threads.

Originally posted by CLPrime
Fair enough...I just wanted to prevent anyone from taking what you said and using it to conclude that Quantum Entanglement represents faster-than-light travel.

As far as I know, it may or may not depending on what exactly is being transferred from one place to another instantaneously. I haven't seen where anyone has figured out what exactly is moving, or from where, or how, and yet the exchange still takes place.

There always remains the possibility that everything we know is wrong.

reply to post by bsbray11


Well theoretically would it not be possible to travel faster than light by enveloping or converting a space craft into quantum electrons? or would that be tachyon's?

Just throwing that out there, which is most likey an incorrect assumption.

anyway, back on topic...

I'm sure as we find out more about this quantum effect regarding smell that we may well find that other physical senses operate on a similar basis.