That spider plant is smarter than me
Just read a fascinating article outlining the way that chlorophyll makes use of quantum processes in photosynthesis. It was known that photosynthesis converts the energy of the sun into sugar, and did it with remarkable efficiency. What wasn't known was exactly how this happened. But some big brains have delved into the matter, and this is what they've come up with:
Through photosynthesis, green plants and cyanobacteria are able to transfer sunlight energy to molecular reaction centers for conversion into chemical energy with nearly 100-percent efficiency. Speed is the key - the transfer of the solar energy takes place almost instantaneously so little energy is wasted as heat. How photosynthesis achieves this near instantaneous energy transfer is a long-standing mystery that may have finally been solved...
"We have obtained the first direct evidence that remarkably long-lived wavelike electronic quantum coherence plays an important part in energy transfer processes during photosynthesis," said Graham Fleming, the principal investigator for the study. “This wavelike characteristic can explain the extreme efficiency of the energy transfer because it enables the system to simultaneously sample all the potential energy pathways and choose the most efficient one.”
...Electronic spectroscopy measurements made on a femtosecond (millionths of a billionth of a second) time-scale showed these oscillations meeting and interfering constructively, forming wavelike motions of energy (superposition states) that can explore all potential energy pathways simultaneously and reversibly, meaning they can retreat from wrong pathways with no penalty. This finding contradicts the classical description of the photosynthetic energy transfer process as one in which excitation energy hops from light-capturing pigment molecules to reaction center molecules step-by-step down the molecular energy ladder.
"The classical hopping description of the energy transfer process is both inadequate and inaccurate," said Fleming. "It gives the wrong picture of how the process actually works, and misses a crucial aspect of the reason for the wonderful efficiency."
Now I'm no expert, but the bits I italicized in the quote above seem to be saying that every single damn molecule of chlorophyll in every cell of every plant on earth is a highly sophisticated (if single purpose) quantum computer. That's pretty damn amazing. And if that is the case, I am sure that if we poke around a little more, we might find other examples of this sort of thing. Like in mitochondria, or in neurons. Wow.
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No, no no. Never trust the
No, no no. Never trust the cats. They'll take your money, smile in your face, and then stand by until your enemies kill you, all just so they can eat your eyes.
Well look we don't have to
Well look we don't have to have cats but we do need some special operations capability, a capability to hit the mechanized menace in its electornic hive mind and silicon heart.
Assassin units, I expect, must be able to get into tight spaces, conduits, vents and such, creep noiselessly, and be ready with- as you once put it- the teeth and the crazy wild animal will to live.
So ok, if cats are out for social or political reasons, who else among our mammal brothers? I mean, sure, an octopus would be a supreme assassin, what with having no skeleton it can squeeze into ridiculously small spaces; its mastery of visual and textile camo is arguably the best our planet can spawn; and each arm can hold a honed instrument of death dealing or, cooler yet, strangle 8 enemies at once.
But 1, the cephalopods, last I heard, weren't 100% with us; and 2, fare poorly beyond the briny deep.
So where does that leave us?
Ferrets and Racoons.
Ferrets and Racoons.
I don't care for either one of them, but they are infinitely more loyal than the felines and just as agile.
GL, the cats will side with
GL, the cats will side with whoever first offers them prosthetic thumbs (so they can work the can opener themselves). I've had cats around for 35 years, man and boy. No moral sense at all.
GL, don't mistake plants for
GL, don't mistake plants for wussies. They have the looooooooong game in mind. What does a little cat dookie matter to a class of creatures whose modus operandi is to simply, relentlessly encroach for ever and ever? Remember: plants turn rocks into soil. Not for them our petty squabbles, even if it's against giant fighting space robots.
I just noticed that in my
I just noticed that in my response, the word p-o-o-p was transformed into "fuck". Which is funny to me.
Now I never thought about the long game, and the relentless march of...um, creep. The March of Creep. Where all things planty devour- in their own time- everything else.
But that begs another question, as to how to get the cats on our side. Their relentless cunning, stealth, and agility make them useful allies to have. Eeeh, by and large- my cat has none of those traits, but then again, he would never fight for me regardless of the possible reward.
If only we could harness their powers for good; maybe we should at least treat them as mercenaries.
Yeah, but at some level,
Yeah, but at some level, every molecule in the universe is acting like a "quantum computer". They are, after all, quantum entities. All interactions happen like this, they just don't tend to be chained in such a sophisticated manner. The theory is, though, evolution constantly refines biological processes to be more efficient. After billions of years you'd expect plants to have worked out how to photosynthesize with as little waste as possible. What's amazing is that it's possible for the reaction to be so efficient, I guess.
It's the wavelike electronic
It's the wavelike electronic quantum coherence, stupid.
Can we get the spider plants
Can we get the spider plants to help us against the robots? "Greetings, he-who-must-be watered...."
I don't know Ken, if it turns
I don't know Ken, if it turns out that all plants - not just the seemingly friendly spider plants - are in fact chock full of computers, they may end up siding with the robots. An aggressive diplomatic campaign is perhaps in order.
Maybe you should be nominated as the Ministry's Speaker-to-Plants,Ambassador Plenipotentiary for dealings with are leafy potential allies.
First, if Ken wrote for us
First, if Ken wrote for us his bio might be "Ministry Emissary to Gaia".
But second, don't get too hung up on the computing power and photosynthetic efficiency and whatnot. Because I haven't seen a spider plant yet that was smart enough to keep from having the ends of its leaves bitten off by bored housecats, or having a viable defense to keep from being shat upon by same. Pretty tough to run your photosynthesis mojo when your means to do it are quietly churning in thee cat's gut, huh? Your sunlight-into-sugar trick isn't so special when you're buried under poop is it? IS IT?
So if the plants join the lists against us, we'll just make sure that their natural nemesis, the cat, joins us.
River otters.
River otters.