Dr. James Beacham

CERN Physicist
Switzerland

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Title: Is life quantum? Quantum biology in the 21st century

Abstract

Quantum mechanics is one of the most successful scientific frameworks in history, describing the elementary rules of the universe with remarkable accuracy. These rules only apply in the realm of the extremely small, nanometers or below, and on very short time scales. Quantum effects at the scale of plants and animals — big, warm, bulky, and biological — are not apparent; life on Earth did not evolve at the quantum level. However, there are several biological processes — such as vision and photosynthesis — that require a fundamentally physical mechanism to operate and which take place at small scales, small enough that quantum mechanics may potentially play a role. But how much of a role? Is it possible that evolution has indeed selected based upon certain quantum mechanical phenomena? Or are we trying to put a square peg in a round hole? Join Dr. James Beacham as he explores the state of quantum biology in the 21st century, from the well-studied (magnetoreception in some vertebrates) to the highly speculative (“quantum consciousness”), and discusses why it’s vital to clearly distinguish between science and pseudoscience in an age of misinformation.