I've been toying with Zeno's effect and its repercussions in my written
SF for a while, so this article caught my eye:
http://arxivblog.com/?p=370
Basically, Zeno's effect says that because quantum systems only change
their wave states between observations, constant observation can delay the
effects of quantum interactions. If you watch that tritium atom
constantly,
it will *never* decay. The paper claims that birds use this effect to
delay
a chemical reaction long enough to sense the Earth's magnetic field.
(Incidentally, I'm intrigued that this happens in avian retinas. Do
birds actually *see* magnetic north and south?? The mechanism creates a
bias
in the outcome of a chemical reaction. Could birds see everything to the
north tinted one color, and everything to the south tinted a different
hue?)
I'm trying to extrapolate this mechanism and see what falls out of it.
Imagine an alien metabolism (or very high-tech appliance) capable of
deciding
when and how quantum states change. Could it intake radioactive isotopes
and
use them as a safe, on-demand power source? Photoresistant surfaces that
do not interact with light? Can a nervous system evolve using controlled
electron tunnelling as a transport mechanism?
I'm lapsing into wild speculation mode, I know. To me, this news is
very cool fodder for daydreaming.
.... ...
Remus Shepherd <remus@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/remus_shepherd/
Comic: http://indepos.comicgenesis.com/
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