While we struggle to build quantum computers in ultra-cold chambers...

Nature has been doing quantum computing for billions of years—at room temperature.

The Process:

1. Photon (light particle) hits a chlorophyll molecule
2. Creates an "exciton" (energy packet) that needs to reach the reaction center
3. Instead of randomly hopping from molecule to molecule...
4. The exciton exists in SUPERPOSITION across multiple pathways simultaneously
5. Quantum coherence lets it "sample" all routes at once
6. Collapses to the most efficient path
7. Energy arrives at reaction center in femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds)

Our quantum computers need:

• Temperature: ~0.015 Kelvin (near absolute zero)
• Vacuum chambers to avoid air molecules
• Electromagnetic shielding
• Vibration isolation
• Cost: Millions of dollars

Plants do quantum computing in:

• Temperature: ~300 Kelvin (room temperature)
• Surrounded by noisy molecular chaos
• No isolation whatsoever
• Direct sunlight battering them
• Cost: Free (nature figured it out)

How?! Scientists still don't fully understand. It seems nature has evolved ways to use "noise" constructively rather than fight it. This is called "environment-assisted quantum transport."

Every Atom You Touch is Quantum

When two atoms form a chemical bond, they're not "gluing together" in a classical sense. Electrons exist in superposition across BOTH atoms simultaneously.

Classical (Wrong) Picture:

"Two atoms share electrons like passing a ball back and forth."

Quantum (Correct) Picture:

Electrons create a molecular orbital—a quantum superposition state that extends across both atoms. The electron literally exists around BOTH nuclei at once.

• It's not "here" or "there"
• It's in a quantum superposition of both locations
• Only measurement (ionization, photon absorption) forces it to "choose"

The Mystery of Bird Migration

How do birds migrate thousands of miles and return to the exact same spot? They can sense Earth's magnetic field—but how?

Leading Theory: Quantum Entanglement

Birds have a protein in their eyes called cryptochrome. When light hits it:

1. Creates a pair of entangled electrons (called a radical pair)
2. Earth's magnetic field affects the entangled state
3. Changes the chemical reaction rates
4. Bird's brain interprets this as "direction"

This is still being researched, but experiments show that disrupting quantum coherence (with radio waves) disorients migratory birds.

The Traditional Theory:

Smell works by molecular shape. Receptors in your nose detect the shape of molecules.

Alternative (Controversial) Theory:

Smell works by quantum tunneling. Electrons can "tunnel" through molecules, and different molecular vibrations create different tunneling rates—your nose detects this!

• Would explain why molecules with same shape but different isotopes smell different
• Would require quantum coherence in warm, wet biological tissue
• Still heavily debated

When DNA replicates, enzymes sometimes make mistakes. Some of these errors happen because:

Protons (hydrogen nuclei) quantum tunnel to the wrong position.

The proton is so small and light that it can exist in superposition across different positions in the DNA base pair. When it "collapses" to the wrong spot, you get a mutation.

This means evolution itself has a quantum component!

Nature doesn't "use" quantum mechanics—it IS quantum mechanics.

Every atom, every photon, every particle operates according to quantum rules. The classical world we see is just the macroscopic average of quantum chaos.

In a sense, the entire universe is performing quantum computations constantly—at every level, from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies.