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Quantum physics and the sense of smell
Marshall Stoneham (TYC@UCL) appeared on BBC's Horizon programme "How long is a piece of string?", talking about the crucial role of quantum mechanics in living organisms (first broadcast 17th November 2009 on BBC Two, repeated 5th January 2010 on BBC One).
The interview was based on Marshall's long-standing interest in the question: do molecular vibration frequencies play a key role in the mechanisms of olfaction (the sense of smell)? Together with Andrew Horsfield (TYC@Imperial and LCN) and graduate students Jenny Brookes and Filio Hartoutsiou, they published a PRL paper "Can humans recognize odour by phonon-assisted tunneling?", and this formed the background to the interview on the Horizon programme.
Learn more:
Clip from the Horizon programme: go to video clip #7, and fast-forward to 48:00 min.
JC Brookes, F Hartoutsiou, AP Horsfield and AM Stoneham, Phys. Rev. Lett., 98, 038101 (2007)
The paper was identified as being of special interest by the PRL editors, and was commented on in New Scientist, Nature Online, Scientific American, and several newspapers.
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