Neural’s Mind Blowers: How quantum bird brains could give us superpowers
Possible? Probably. Plausible? Possibly.
What?
Quantum superposition is the uncertainty inherent when a particle exists in multiple physical states simultaneously. Physicists like to describe this concept using a spinning coin.
Until the coin’s spin slows and we can observe the results, we cannot state equivocally whether it’s in a state of heads or tails. Our observed reality, at the time it’s spinning, makes it appear as though the coin is in a state of neither heads nor tails.
But quantum mechanics are a bit more complex than that. Essentially, when we’re dealing with quantum particles, thecoinin this metaphor is actually in a state ofbothheads and tails at the same time until it collapses into one state or another upon observation.
It sounds nerdy, but it’s actually really cool in actuality.
When blue light hits the aforementioned robins’ eyes, a pair of entangled electrons inside the special protein in them sets off a series of reactions. This allows the bird to measurehow muchmagnetism it’s feeling. Thestrengthof this measurement tells the bird exactly where it’s at and, theoretically, serves as a mechanism to drive it towards its destination.
The reason this works is because of superposition and entanglement. Those two electrons are entangled, which means that even though they’re not next to each other, they can be in a state of uncertainty – superposition – together.
As the bird senses more or less magnetism the state of the electrons change and it’s more or less drawn in a specific direction – at least, that’s what the study appears to indicate.
Smell-o-vision
Think about it like your sense of smell. Despite the fact the birds use a protein in their eye, they don’t really “see” the magnetism. Their brains perceive thesignal.
If you smell something amazing, like your favorite fresh-baked treat, coming from a very specific part of your home, those with a typical sense of smell could likelyfollow their noseand locate the source.
So imagine there’s a special sensor in your nose that’s only looking for a specific scent. One that’s pretty muchalwaysthere.
Instead of developing an olfactory system to discern different smells, evolution would almost certainly gift us with a nose that specializes in detecting extremely exact measurements ofhow muchof that one scent we perceive at any given time or location.
The robins’ ability to sense magnetism likely works in a similar fashion. They may very well have a ground-truth tether to the motion of the planet itself.
Their magnetic sense gives them a physicalsensationbased on their literal geolocation.
And that’s pretty amazing! It means these bird’s brains have built-in GPS. What if humans could gain access to this incredible quantum sensory mechanism?
Never, ever ask for directions
Imagine always knowing exactly where you are, in the physical sense. If we could take the emotional feeling you get when you return home from a long trip and turn it into a physical one that waxed or waned depending on how far away from the Earth’s magnetic poles you were, it could absolutely change the way our brains perceive the planet and our place in it.
But, it’s not something we can just unlock through meditation or pharmaceuticals. Clearly, birdsevolvedthe ability to sense the Earth’s magnetism. And not every bird can do it.
Chickens, for example, have a relatively minuscule reaction to magnetism when compared to the robins the scientists studied.
We apparently lack the necessary chemical and neural components for natural magnetic sensory development.
But we also lack talons and wings. And that hasn’t stopped us from killing things or flying. In other words, there are potential technological solutions to our lack of magnetic perception.
From a speculative science point of view, the problem can be reduced to two fairly simple concepts. We have to figure out how to get a quantum-capable protein in our eye that filters blue light to perceive magnetism and then sort out how to connect it to the proper regions of our brain.
Engineers wanted
Luckily we’ve already got all the conceptual technology we need to make this work.
We know how toentangle things on command, we cansynthesize or manipulate proteinsto jaw-dropping effect, andbrain computer interfaces(BCIs) could facilitate a networking solution that functions as an intermediary between quantum and binary signals.
We can even fantasize about a future where miniaturizedquantum computers are inserted into our brainsto facilitate even smoother translation.
It feels romantic to imagine a future paradigm where we might network our quantum BCIs in order to establish a shared ground-truth – one that literally allows us tofeelthe people we care about, even when we’re apart.
I’m not saying this could happen in our lifetimes.But I’m not saying it couldn’t.
I can think of worse reasons to shove a chip in my head.
Story byTristan Greene
Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns:(show all)Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns: He/him
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