Quantum Physics

Actually he'd probably have some insight into how the infinite improbability drive is related to his carrot ship.

I just noticed your location.

halfwise wrote:Actually he'd probably have some insight into how the infinite improbability drive is related to his carrot ship.

I can't talk too much about it because I have a patent pending,
{{{{but think carrot-cake..... }}}}

Reading that made my head hurt

Sorry. I think Bucky helps.

'A controversial theory that the way we smell involves a quantum physics effect has received a boost, following experiments with human subjects.
It challenges the notion that our sense of smell depends only on the shapes of molecules we sniff in the air.
Instead, it suggests that the molecules' vibrations are responsible.
A way to test it is with two molecules of the same shape, but with different vibrations. A report in PLOS ONE shows that humans can distinguish the two.
Tantalisingly, the idea hints at quantum effects occurring in biological systems.
The idea that molecules' shapes are the only link to their smell is well entrenched, but Dr Turin said there were holes in the idea.
He gave the example of molecules that include sulphur and hydrogen atoms bonded together - they may take a wide range of shapes, but all of them smell of rotten eggs.
"If you look from the [traditional] standpoint... it's really hard to explain," Dr Turin told BBC News.
"If you look from the standpoint of an alternative theory - that what determines the smell of a molecule is the vibrations - the sulphur-hydrogen mystery becomes absolutely clear."
The mechanism, he added, was "inelastic electron tunnelling": in the presence of a specific "smelly" molecule, an electron within a smell receptor in your nose can "jump" - or tunnel - across it and dump a quantum of energy into one of the molecule's bonds - setting the "spring" vibrating.
And although many more scientists are taking the vibrational theory seriously than back in 1996, it remains an extraordinarily polarised debate.
"He's had some peripheral support, but... people don't want to line up behind Luca," Prof Jacob said. "It's scientific suicide."-bbc

was there an evolution of smell? you know millions of years ago smells were different. like the smell of rotting fisk for example. there werent any fisks, or there wasnt the need to deter other creatures from eating something rotting and therefore toxic. or fisks smelled of buckie. did smell evolve before humans came along and were humans hardwired with smell receptors from when we were tadpoles and didnt need to smell cos we were in water. kind of thing. yeah just waffling now.

From what I gather from browsing the web the olfactory receptors consists of a whole array of different binding sites, and molecules of different shapes will bind with varying degrees of success to each site producing a sort of fingerprint. This mechanism should be wide open and not so dependent on specific molecules that haven't been met before. I guess it's more a question of how the brain interprets the message. Do we all smell things the same is as deep a question as do we all see the same colors the same?

The vibrational hypothesis just says that molecules in different energy states will affect the binding sites differently, which isn't too surprising I guess.

do different cultures smell things differently, is smell a cultural construct as much as biological, does one person from Japan like the smell of something that an English person would find horrid, or are there universal laws of smell?

That's a great question, but I think we do have at least a partial answer. Kimchee anyone? Stinky cheese?

unless it helps us feed the world or keep everyone safe I am so busy I just dont care, Sorry scientists, you work so hard. maybe its the lack of sleep.

Mrs Figg wrote: like the smell of rotting fisk for example.....

I've heard that the Fjordlandians have something similar.

Surströmming is a northern Swedish dish consisting of fermented Baltic herring. Surströmming is sold in cans, which may bulge after prolonged storage, due to the continued fermentation.

When opened, the contents release a strong and sometimes overwhelming odour; the dish is often eaten outdoors. According to a Japanese study, a newly opened can of surströmming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world, even more so than similarly fermented fish dishes such as the Korean Hongeohoe or Japanese Kusaya.

It's interesting how fermented food flavors are strongly craved by some people and cause nausea in others. Some of it's definitely cultural. I know Asian born people who crave fermented fish sauces but are disgusted by rotten milk flavors like cheese, while their children raised in the US have the opposite reaction.

It's tempting to speculate that the craving for certain fermented foods comes from a time before food preservation when the ability to eat partially decayed food would sometimes be necessary to survive through times of famine. The smell of a decayed carcass will call in carrion birds and beasts from many miles away. I suspect our ancient ancestors may have dined right along side them.

I still scrape mold off things sitting in the back of the fridge and eat what lies below. People are too squeamish. I recently had cream cheese that tasted like bleu cheese. A definite improvement.

Suddenly I feel so ill. I suddenly remebered whenI was nanny to three beautiful children who were part Swedish and part Hawaiin and kuku, his mother who did tours on the big island was coming to Canada. He, Tommy , my employer , was so excited. We got ready for weeks. Packages of crackers that were soy flavoured and shrimp flavoured and angel hair pasta, and the best bonito fish that I sliced paper thin raw. And strange looking beer and I had to practise with the sushi and then he started poi on the wood stove. And it looked like someone emptied their nostrils into it and it fermented for nearly two weeks before she came.
And Kuku ran out in the snow with bare feet shouting Aloha, it was great fun
But I had to leave the room when they ate the poi with their fingers with the rise. I can still feel the nausea and the sickness that came to me. That was their favorite part of the meal.

I hope fuzzballs have strong digestive systems, Halfy.

For my part I can't eat foods that are too heavy or rich. When I went to Seattle I loved the food but I felt nauseous after almost every dinner because my stomach wasn't used to food like that.

The ancient Romans loved Garum which was, (thanks Wiki)


Garum was prepared from the intestines of small fishes through the process of bacterial fermentation. Fishermen would lay out their catch according to the type and part of the fish, allowing makers to pick the exact ingredients they wanted. The fish parts were then macerated in salt, and cured in the sun for one to three months. The mixture fermented and liquified in the dry warmth, with the salt inhibiting the common agents of decay. Garum was the clear liquid that formed on the top, drawn off by means of a fine strainer inserted into the fermenting vessel. The sediment or sludge that remained was allec

The taste for garum had a social dimension that might be compared to an aversion to garlic in some modern Western societies, or to the adoption of the Vietnamese nuoc-mam. Seneca, holding the old-fashioned line against the expensive craze, cautioned against it, even though his family was from Baetian Corduba:


Do you not realize that garum sociorum, that expensive bloody mass of decayed fish, consumes the stomach with its salted putrefaction?

—Seneca, Epistle 95.

A surviving fragment of Plato Comicus speaks of "putrid garum". Martial congratulates a friend on keeping up amorous advances to a girl who had indulged in six helpings of it.

Garum was also employed as a medicine. It was thought to be one of the best cures for many ailments, including dog bites, dysentery, and ulcers, and to ease chronic diarrhea and treat constipation. Garum was even used as an ingredient in cosmetics and for removal of unwanted hair and freckles

I never heard that any Romans were anti-garum, very interesting to hear. Every time I start to think too much about the Romans being western European I use the thought of garum to bring me back.

instead of tomorrow going as scheduled, i would like 2 spend the day watching Blue Hawaii & Donovan's Reef & eating poi

poi is a type of pie right guys

no.

poi: take tuber and pound it up so it's like mashed potatoe. Wrap in leaves and bury for a week or so while it ferments. Eat by dipping in fingers and sucking off.

i was joking

thought you might be.

i am not a dot