Tuesday, February 19, 2008

We know!

TGD was born 4 years before superstring model. Around 1994 I performed first version of p-adic mass calculations of elementary particle masses. Now I am now applying TGD at precise quantitative level to model bio-systems as macroscopic quantum systems. At this moment M-theorist's most notable attempts to build connection to observed reality are speculations about the possibility of blackholes and time machines in LHC.

In today's Cosmic Variance, only five centuries after Newton, Sean Carroll - after stating clearly that we cannot know anything for sure- told us that - after all- "we know" that there is definitely no new physics involved with living cell or brain. To induce the desired associations the title of posting referred to telekinesis but the message was "No New Physics-Period". Lubos echoed Sean Carroll's "we-know"'s (the title referred now to spoon bending).

Neither Sean nor Lubos bothered to mention dark matter- roughly 95 percent of all matter that exists- and its possible relevance for biology since they "we-know" that it has only cosmological relevance. Lubos also emphasized that quantum theory in the realm acceccible to experimentation has reached its final form. In particular, "we-know" that Planck constant has only single value. Message taken.

The grateful audience joined to stormy applauds for these "we-knower"'s but there was also an exception. Someone not-so-well-informed mentioned that DNA double strands have "telepathic abilities". DNA double strands are able to gather together in solution: the same ability of single strand and conjugate has been known for a long time.

In the case of single DNA strands TGD explains this in terms magnetic flux tubes connecting DNA and conjugate DNA strands: also attraction of double strands could be explained by this mechanism. These magnetic flux tubes carrying particles in large Planck constant phase and defining braids could make DNA topological quantum computer. The phase transitions changing hbar and inducing shortening (or lengthening) of the braid strands would allow biomolecules to find each other and play key role in bio-catalysis: consider only DNA replication, transcription of DNA to mRNA, and translation of mRNA to aminoacid sequences.

The reaction of Lubos Motl was what one might have expected: "The full article is here, http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abst.../jp7112297.html - it is really amazing or, more likely, complete rubbish" (note that the ability of single strands to find each other is known for decades!).

So many theoreticians in this state of "we-knowing" see only what their theory allows them to see. Brings in my mind similar situation more than century ago before quantum mechanics: also then "we-know"'ed that classical mechanics is all that is needed to describe every imaginable observation. History does not seem to be a good teacher but also its students seem to be often rather silly.

1 comment:

Kea said...

Actually, history seems to be an excellent teacher, but not many people are paying attention.