Is the sense of smell a quantum phenomenon?
  • Everybody knows that the sense of smell works by way of chemical messengers bonding to specific receptor sites, with the shape of the molecule determining the signal sent to the brain.

    Except… new studies with human subjects have found that the molecules' vibrations determine the smell, rather than the shape. And if this is the case, then the sense of smell can be conceptualized as a quantum mechanical system, rather than a simple chemical system.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21150046

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