How Quantum Biology Might Explain Life’s Biggest Questions | Jim Al-Khalili | TED Talks

Prevoditelj: Dora Ustulica Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

I'd like to introduce you to an emerging area of science,

Želio bih vas upoznati s rastućim područjem znanosti,

one that is still speculative but hugely exciting,

jednim koje je još uvijek spekulativno, ali iznimno uzbudljivo

and certainly one that's growing very rapidly.

i zasigurno s jednim koje vrlo brzo napreduje.

Quantum biology asks a very simple question:

Kvantna biologija postavlja vrlo jednostavno pitanje:

Does quantum mechanics --

Igra li kvantna mehanika-

that weird and wonderful and powerful theory

ta čudna,prekrasna i moćna teorija

of the subatomic world of atoms and molecules

subatomskog svijeta atoma i molekula,

that underpins so much of modern physics and chemistry --

koja objašnjava tako velik dio moderne fizike i kemije-

also play a role inside the living cell?

ulogu u živućim stanicama?

In other words: Are there processes, mechanisms, phenomena

Drugim riječima: Postoje li procesi, mehanizmi, fenomeni

in living organisms that can only be explained

u živućim organizmima koji se mogu objasniti samo

with a helping hand from quantum mechanics?

uz pomoć kvantne mehanike?

Now, quantum biology isn't new;

Kvantna biologija nije nova;

it's been around since the early 1930s.

postoji od ranih 1930-ih.

But it's only in the last decade or so that careful experiments --

Ali tek u posljednjem desetljeću oprezni pokusi --

in biochemistry labs, using spectroscopy --

u biokemijskim laboratorijima, uz korištenje spektometrije --

have shown very clear, firm evidence that there are certain specific mechanisms

su pokazali vrlo jasne, čvrste dokaze da postaje određeni specifični mehanizmi

that require quantum mechanics to explain them.

za čije je objašnjenje potrebna kvantna mehanika.

Quantum biology brings together quantum physicists, biochemists,

Kvantna biologija objedinjuje kvantne fizičare, biokemičare,

molecular biologists -- it's a very interdisciplinary field.

molekularne biologe- to je veoma interdisciplinarno područje.

I come from quantum physics, so I'm a nuclear physicist.

Ja dolazim iz kvantne fizike, dakle ja sam nuklearni fizičar.

I've spent more than three decades

Proveo sam više od tri desetljeća

trying to get my head around quantum mechanics.

pokušavajući shvatiti kvantnu mehaniku.

One of the founders of quantum mechanics, Niels Bohr,

Jedan od utemeljitelja kvantne mehanike, Niels Bohr,

said, If you're not astonished by it, then you haven't understood it.

je rekao, da ako vas ona ne zapanji, da ju niste razumjeli.

So I sort of feel happy that I'm still astonished by it.

Tako da sam ja na neki način sretan da me ona još uvijek zapanjuje.

That's a good thing.

To je dobro.

But it means I study the very smallest structures in the universe --

Ali to znači da proučavam najmanje strukture u svemiru-

the building blocks of reality.

građevni materijal stvarnosti.

If we think about the scale of size,

Ako razmislimo o razmjeru veličina,

start with an everyday object like the tennis ball,

počevši od svakodnevnih predmeta kao što je teniska lopta

and just go down orders of magnitude in size --

i zatim krenuvši prema sve manjim predmetima --

from the eye of a needle down to a cell, down to a bacterium, down to an enzyme --

od iglene ušice do stanice, do bakterije, do enzima,

you eventually reach the nano-world.

na kraju dopijemo do nano-svijeta.

Now, nanotechnology may be a term you've heard of.

Možda ste čuli za pojam nanotehnologije.

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

Nanometar je milijarditi dio metra.

My area is the atomic nucleus, which is the tiny dot inside an atom.

Moje područje je atomska jezgra, a to je mala točka unutar atoma.

It's even smaller in scale.

Čak je i manja.

This is the domain of quantum mechanics,

To je domena kvantne mehanike

and physicists and chemists have had a long time

te su fizičari i kemičari imali mnogo vremena

to try and get used to it.

da se pokušaju naviknuti.

Biologists, on the other hand, have got off lightly, in my view.

Biolozi, s druge strane, su po mom mišllenju, prošli lakše.

They are very happy with their balls-and-sticks models of molecules.

Oni su jako sretni sa svojim kuglastim i štapičastim modelima molekula.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The balls are the atoms, the sticks are the bonds between the atoms.

Kuglice su atomi, štapići su veze među atomima.

And when they can't build them physically in the lab,

I kada ih ne mogu izgraditi fizički u laboratoriju,

nowadays, they have very powerful computers

danas imaju veoma moćna računala,

that will simulate a huge molecule.

koja simuliraju ogromne molekule.

This is a protein made up of 100,000 atoms.

Ovo je bjelančevina sastavljena od 100,000 atoma,

It doesn't really require much in the way of quantum mechanics to explain it.

nije potrebno mnogo kvantne mehanike da se objasni.

Quantum mechanics was developed in the 1920s.

Kvantna mehanika se razvila 1920-ih.

It is a set of beautiful and powerful mathematical rules and ideas

To je skup prekrasnih i moćnih matematičkih pravila i ideja

that explain the world of the very small.

koje objašnjavaju svijet vrlo maloga.

And it's a world that's very different from our everyday world,

I to je svijet veoma različit od našeg svakodnevnog svijeta,

made up of trillions of atoms.

sastavljen od trilijuna atoma.

It's a world built on probability and chance.

To je svijet izgrađen na vjerojatnosti i prilici.

It's a fuzzy world.

To je kaotičan svijet.

It's a world of phantoms,

To je svijet opsjena,

where particles can also behave like spread-out waves.

u kojem se čestice mogu ponašati kao valovi.

If we imagine quantum mechanics or quantum physics, then,

Ako zamislimo kvantnu mehaniku ili kvantnu fiziku

as the fundamental foundation of reality itself,

kao osnovu naše stvarnosti,

then it's not surprising that we say

onda nije začuđujuće što kažemo

quantum physics underpins organic chemistry.

da je kvantna fizika osnova organske kemije.

After all, it gives us the rules that tell us

Ipak nam ona daje pravila koja nam govore

how the atoms fit together to make organic molecules.

kako se atomi spajaju da stvore organske molekule.

Organic chemistry, scaled up in complexity,

Organska kemija, poredana prema kompleksnosti,

gives us molecular biology, which of course leads to life itself.

nam daje molekularnu biologiju, koja nas naravno vodi do samog života.

So in a way, it's sort of not surprising.

Dakle, na neki način, to uopće nije začuđujuće.

It's almost trivial.

Gotovo je banalno.

You say, "Well, of course life ultimately must depend of quantum mechanics."

Kažete: " Pa, naravno da život na kraju mora ovisiti o kvantnoj mehanici."

But so does everything else.

Ali i sve ostalo.

So does all inanimate matter, made up of trillions of atoms.

Sva beživotna tvar, sastavljena od trilijuna atoma.

Ultimately, there's a quantum level

Na kraju, postoji kvantna razina

where we have to delve into this weirdness.

u kojoj moramo prekopati po toj čudnosti.

But in everyday life, we can forget about it.

Ali u svakodnevnom životu, možemo zaboraviti na to.

Because once you put together trillions of atoms,

Zato što, jednom kad spojite trilijune atoma,

that quantum weirdness just dissolves away.

nestaje kvanta neobičnosti.

Quantum biology isn't about this.

O tome ne govori kvantna biologija.

Quantum biology isn't this obvious.

Kvantna biologija nije toliko očita.

Of course quantum mechanics underpins life at some molecular level.

Naravno da kvantna mehanika stvara život na molekularnoj razini.

Quantum biology is about looking for the non-trivial --

Kvantna biologija se bavi potragom za ne-banalnim-

the counterintuitive ideas in quantum mechanics --

kontraintuitivnim idejama kvantne mehanike-

and to see if they do, indeed, play an important role

i proučava igra li ona doista važnu ulogu

in describing the processes of life.

u opisivanju životnih procesa.

Here is my perfect example of the counterintuitiveness

Ovo je moj savršen primjer kontraintuitivnosti

of the quantum world.

kvantnog svijeta.

This is the quantum skier.

Ovo je kvantni skijaš.

He seems to be intact, he seems to be perfectly healthy,

Izgleda netaknuto, izgleda savršeno zdravo,

and yet, he seems to have gone around both sides of that tree at the same time.

ali ipak, izgleda da je zaobišao obje strane drveta u isto vrijeme.

Well, if you saw tracks like that

Pa, ako vidite ovakve stvari

you'd guess it was some sort of stunt, of course.

pretpostavili bi ste da se radi o triku, naravno.

But in the quantum world, this happens all the time.

Ali u kvantnom svijetu se ovo stalno događa.

Particles can multitask, they can be in two places at once.

Čestice mogu činiti više zadataka, biti na dva mjesta odjednom.

They can do more than one thing at the same time.

Mogu činiti više od jedne stvari u isto vrijeme.

Particles can behave like spread-out waves.

Čestice se mogu ponašati kao valovi.

It's almost like magic.

To je gotovo kao magija.

Physicists and chemists have had nearly a century

Fizičari i kemičari su se pokušavali naviknuti

of trying to get used to this weirdness.

na ovu neobičnost gotovo stoljeće.

I don't blame the biologists

Ne krivim biologe

for not having to or wanting to learn quantum mechanics.

što nisu ili ne žele naučiti kvantnu mehaniku.

You see, this weirdness is very delicate;

Vidite, ova neobičnost je veoma delikatna;

and we physicists work very hard to maintain it in our labs.

i mi fizičari jako teško radimo da ju zadržimo u laboratorijima.

We cool our system down to near absolute zero,

Hladimo naše sustave gotovo na apsolutnu nulu,

we carry out our experiments in vacuums,

vršimo pokuse u vakuumu,

we try and isolate it from any external disturbance.

pokušavamo ju izolirati od bilo kakve vanjske smetnje.

That's very different from the warm, messy, noisy environment of a living cell.

To je veoma drukčije od toplog, neurednog, bučnog okoliša žive stanice.

Biology itself, if you think of molecular biology,

Čini se da je sama biologija, ako pomislite na molekularnu biologiju,

seems to have done very well in describing all the processes of life

vrlo dobro uspjela objasniti sve životne procese

in terms of chemistry -- chemical reactions.

kemijom -- kemijskim reakcijama.

And these are reductionist, deterministic chemical reactions,

I to su redukcijske, determinističke kemijske reakcije,

showing that, essentially, life is made of the same stuff as everything else,

koje pokazuju, vrlo bitno, da je život sačinjen od istih tvari kao i sve drugo

and if we can forget about quantum mechanics in the macro world,

i ako možemo zaboraviti na kvantnu mehaniku u makro svijetu,

then we should be able to forget about it in biology, as well.

onda bismo morali moći zaboraviti na nju i u biologiji također.

Well, one man begged to differ with this idea.

Pa, jedan se čovjek usudio razlikovati svojom idejom.

Erwin Schrödinger, of Schrödinger's Cat fame,

Erwin Schrodinger, poznat po Schrodingerovoj mački,

was an Austrian physicist.

bio je austrijski fizičar.

He was one of the founders of quantum mechanics in the 1920s.

On je bio jedan od začetnika kvantne mehanike 1920-ih.

In 1944, he wrote a book called "What is Life?"

1944.je napisao knjigu nazvanu " Što je život? "

It was tremendously influential.

Bila je nevjerojatno utjecajna.

It influenced Francis Crick and James Watson,

Utjecala je na Francisa Cricka i Jamesa Watsona,

the discoverers of the double-helix structure of DNA.

koji su otkrili dvostruko zavojitu strukturu DNA.

To paraphrase a description in the book, he says:

Parafrizirat ću opis iz knjige, on kaže:

At the molecular level, living organisms have a certain order,

Na molekularnoj razini, živući organizmi imaju određen red,

a structure to them that's very different

svoju strukturu koja se dosta razlikuje

from the random thermodynamic jostling of atoms and molecules

od nasumičnog termodinamičkog nizanja atoma i molekula

in inanimate matter of the same complexity.

u neživoj materiji jednake složenosti.

In fact, living matter seems to behave in this order, in a structure,

Zapravo, čini se da se živa tvar u ovom redu, u ovoj strukturi

just like inanimate matter cooled down to near absolute zero,

ponaša kao neživa tvar kada se ohladi na temperaturu blizu apsolutnoj nuli,

where quantum effects play a very important role.

na kojoj kvantni učinici igraju veoma važnu ulogu.

There's something special about the structure -- the order --

Nešto je posebno u strukturi -- u redu --

inside a living cell.

unutar žive stanice.

So, Schrödinger speculated that maybe quantum mechanics plays a role in life.

Dakle, Schrodinger je spekulirao da kvantna mehanika možda igra ulogu u životu

It's a very speculative, far-reaching idea,

To je veoma spekulativna, dalekosežna ideja

and it didn't really go very far.

i nije otišla veoma daleko.

But as I mentioned at the start,

Ali kako sam spomenuo na početku

in the last 10 years, there have been experiments emerging,

u posljednjih 10 godina se provodi sve više pokusa,

showing where some of these certain phenomena in biology

koji prikazuju gdje neki od određenih fenomena u biologiji

do seem to require quantum mechanics.

iziskuju potrebu za kvantnom mehanikom.

I want to share with you just a few of the exciting ones.

Želim s vama podijeliti samo par uzbudljivih.

This is one of the best-known phenomena in the quantum world,

Ovo je jedan od najpoznatijih fenomena u kvantnom svijetu,

quantum tunneling.

kvantno tuneliranje.

The box on the left shows the wavelike, spread-out distribution

Lijeva kutija prikazuje valovitu, raširenu distribuciju

of a quantum entity -- a particle, like an electron,

kvantnog entiteta -- čestica, poput elektrona,

which is not a little ball bouncing off a wall.

koja nije mala kugla koja se odbija od zida.

It's a wave that has a certain probability of being able to permeate

To je val koji ima određenu vjerojatnost da je sposoban prodrijeti

through a solid wall, like a phantom leaping through to the other side.

kroz čvrst zid, poput duha koji prelazi na drugu stranu.

You can see a faint smudge of light in the right-hand box.

Možete vidjeti slabu zraku svjetlosti u desnoj kutiji.

Quantum tunneling suggests that a particle can hit an impenetrable barrier,

Kvantno tuneliranje predlaže da čestica može udariti u neprobojnu zapreku,

and yet somehow, as though by magic,

a ipak nekako, kao uz pomoć magije,

disappear from one side and reappear on the other.

nestati s jedne strane, a pojaviti se na drugoj.

The nicest way of explaining it is if you want to throw a ball over a wall,

Najljepši način da se to objasni je, ako želite baciti loptu preko zida,

you have to give it enough energy to get over the top of the wall.

morate joj dati dovoljno energije da prijeđe preko vrha zida.

In the quantum world, you don't have to throw it over the wall,

U kvantnom svijetu ne morate ju baciti preko zida,

you can throw it at the wall, and there's a certain non-zero probability

možete ju baciti u zid, i postoji određena vjerojatnost

that it'll disappear on your side, and reappear on the other.

da će nestati na jednoj strani, a pojaviti se na drugoj.

This isn't speculation, by the way.

Usputno rečeno, ovo nije špekulacija.

We're happy -- well, "happy" is not the right word --

Sretni smo-pa, "sretni" nije prava riječ-

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

we are familiar with this.

upoznati smo s ovim.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Quantum tunneling takes place all the time;

Kvantno tuneliranje se stalno događa,

in fact, it's the reason our Sun shines.

zapravo, to je razlog zbog kojeg sije Sunce.

The particles fuse together,

Čestice se stope,

and the Sun turns hydrogen into helium through quantum tunneling.

a zatim Sunce pretvori vodik u helij kvantnim tuneliranjem.

Back in the 70s and 80s, it was discovered that quantum tunneling also takes place

70-ih i 80-ih je otkriveno da se kvantno tuneliranje odvija i

inside living cells.

unutar živih stanica.

Enzymes, those workhorses of life, the catalysts of chemical reactions --

Enzimi, ti pogoni života, katalizatori kemijskih reakcija-

enzymes are biomolecules that speed up chemical reactions in living cells,

enzimi su biomolekule koje ubrzavaju kemijske reakcije u živim stanicama,

by many, many orders of magnitude.

mnogim, mnogim nizovima magnituda.

And it's always been a mystery how they do this.

I oduvijek je misterij kako to čine.

Well, it was discovered

Pa, bilo je otkriveno

that one of the tricks that enzymes have evolved to make use of,

da je jedan od trikova, za koje su enzimi evoluirali da ih iskoriste,

is by transferring subatomic particles, like electrons and indeed protons,

je premiještanje subatomskih čestica, kao što su elektroni i protoni

from one part of a molecule to another via quantum tunneling.

iz jednog dijela molekule u drugi kvantnim tuneliranjem.

It's efficient, it's fast, it can disappear --

Učinkovito je, brzo je, može nestati --

a proton can disappear from one place, and reappear on the other.

proton može nestati s jednog mjesta i pojaviti se na drugom.

Enzymes help this take place.

Enzimi u tome pomažu.

This is research that's been carried out back in the 80s,

Ovo je istraživanje provedeno 80-ih godina,

particularly by a group in Berkeley, Judith Klinman.

od strane jedne grupe u Berkeleyju. Judith Klinman.

Other groups in the UK have now also confirmed

Druge grupe u UK-u su sada također potvrdile

that enzymes really do this.

da enzimi to stvarno čine.

Research carried out by my group --

Istraživanje koje je provela moja grupa-

so as I mentioned, I'm a nuclear physicist,

kako sam spomenuo, ja sam nuklearni fizičar,

but I've realized I've got these tools of using quantum mechanics

ali sam shvatio da imam alate za korištenje kvantne mehanike

in atomic nuclei, and so can apply those tools in other areas as well.

u atomskim jezgrama, te da ih mogu primijeniti i na druga područja.

One question we asked

Jedno pitanje koje smo postavili je

is whether quantum tunneling plays a role in mutations in DNA.

igra li kvatno tuneliranje ulogu u mutacijama DNA.

Again, this is not a new idea; it goes all the way back to the early 60s.

Opet ponavljam, ovo nije nova ideja; počeci su joj u 60-im godinama.

The two strands of DNA, the double-helix structure,

Dva ogranka DNA, struktura dvostruke zavojnice

are held together by rungs; it's like a twisted ladder.

je spojena prečkama; kao zavojite ljestve su.

And those rungs of the ladder are hydrogen bonds --

I te prečke ljestvi su vodikove veze --

protons, that act as the glue between the two strands.

protoni, koji se ponašaju kao ljepilo između dvije prečke.

So if you zoom in, what they're doing is holding these large molecules --

Pa ako povećate, ono što čine je spajanje tih velikih molekula-

nucleotides -- together.

nukleotida.

Zoom in a bit more.

Još malo povećajte.

So, this a computer simulation.

Dakle, ovo je računalna simulacija.

The two white balls in the middle are protons,

Dvije bijele kugle u sredini su protoni

and you can see that it's a double hydrogen bond.

i možete vidjeti dvostruku vodikovu vezu,

One prefers to sit on one side; the other, on the other side

Jedna preferira pretezati na jednu stranu,a druga na drugu,

of the two strands of the vertical lines going down, which you can't see.

od dviju prečki vertikalnih linija koje silaze, ne možete ih vidjeti.

It can happen that these two protons can hop over.

Može se dogoditi da ta dva protona preskoče.

Watch the two white balls.

Gledajte dvije bijele kugle.

They can jump over to the other side.

Mogu skočiti na drugu stranu.

If the two strands of DNA then separate, leading to the process of replication,

Ako se dvije prečke DNA tada odvoje, dovodeći do procesa replikacije,

and the two protons are in the wrong positions,

a dva protona su na krivim mjestima,

this can lead to a mutation.

to može dovesti do mutacija.

This has been known for half a century.

Ovo je poznato pola stoljeća.

The question is: How likely are they to do that,

Pitanje je: Koliko je vjerojatno da će to napraviti

and if they do, how do they do it?

i ako to naprave, kako to naprave?

Do they jump across, like the ball going over the wall?

Skoče li preko, kao lopta preko zida?

Or can they quantum-tunnel across, even if they don't have enough energy?

Ili kvantno tuneliraju preko, čak i ako nemaju dovoljno energije?

Early indications suggest that quantum tunneling can play a role here.

Rane indikacije predlažu da kvantno tuneliranje ima ulogu u ovome.

We still don't know yet how important it is;

Još uvijek ne znamo koliko je važno;

this is still an open question.

to je još otvoreno pitanje.

It's speculative,

Špekulativno je,

but it's one of those questions that is so important

ali to je jedno od onih pitanja koje je tako važno

that if quantum mechanics plays a role in mutations,

da, ako kvantna mehanika ima ulogu u mutacijama,

surely this must have big implications,

sigurno da to mora imati snašne implikacije,

to understand certain types of mutations,

da se razumiju određene vrste mutacija,

possibly even those that lead to turning a cell cancerous.

čak i one koje vode to pretvaranja stanice u kancerogenu.

Another example of quantum mechanics in biology is quantum coherence,

Još jedan primjer kvantne mehanike u biologiji je kvantna koherencija,

in one of the most important processes in biology,

u jednom od najvažnijih procesa u biologiji,

photosynthesis: plants and bacteria taking sunlight,

fotosintezi: biljke i bakterije upijaju sunčevu svjetlost

and using that energy to create biomass.

i koriste tu energiju da prozvedu biomasu.

Quantum coherence is the idea of quantum entities multitasking.

Kvantna koherencija je ideja kvantnih entiteta koji izvršavaju više zadataka.

It's the quantum skier.

To je kvantni skijaš.

It's an object that behaves like a wave,

To je predmet koji se ponaša poput vala,

so that it doesn't just move in one direction or the other,

tako da se ne pomiče samo u jednu ili drugu stranu,

but can follow multiple pathways at the same time.

ali može slijediti više puteva u isto vrijeme.

Some years ago, the world of science was shocked

Prije nekoliko godina, svijet znanosti se šokirao

when a paper was published showing experimental evidence

kada je bila izdana studija koja je pokazala eksperimentalne dokaze

that quantum coherence takes place inside bacteria,

da se kvatna koherencija odvija unutar bakterija,

carrying out photosynthesis.

da provodi fotosintezu.

The idea is that the photon, the particle of light, the sunlight,

Ideja je da foton, čestica svjetlosti, sunčeva svjetolost,

the quantum of light captured by a chlorophyll molecule,

kvant svjetlosti uhvačen u molekulu klorofila

is then delivered to what's called the reaction center,

bude isporučen u tzv.reakcijski centar,

where it can be turned into chemical energy.

gdje se može pretvoriti u kemijsku energiju.

And in getting there, it doesn't just follow one route;

I da stigne do tamo ne slijedi samo jednu rutu;

it follows multiple pathways at once,

slijedi više puteva istovremeno,

to optimize the most efficient way of reaching the reaction center

da bi optimizirao najučinkovitiji način dolaska do reakcijskog centra

without dissipating as waste heat.

bez da se utroši kao toplina.

Quantum coherence taking place inside a living cell.

Kvantna koherencija se odvija unutar žive stanice.

A remarkable idea,

Izvanredna ideja,

and yet evidence is growing almost weekly, with new papers coming out,

dokazi se pojavljuju na gotovo tjednoj bazi izlaskom novih studija

confirming that this does indeed take place.

koje potvrđuju da se to doista događa.

My third and final example is the most beautiful, wonderful idea.

Moj treći i posljednji primjer je najljepša, predivna ideja.

It's also still very speculative, but I have to share it with you.

Isto je dosta špekulativna, ali moram ju podijeliti s vama.

The European robin migrates from Scandinavia

Europski crvendać migrira iz Skandinavije

down to the Mediterranean, every autumn,

prema Sredozemlju svake jeseni,

and like a lot of other marine animals and even insects,

te kao mnoge druge morske životinje i čak kukci,

they navigate by sensing the Earth's magnetic field.

orijentiraju se osjećanjem europskog magnetnog polja.

Now, the Earth's magnetic field is very, very weak;

Zemljino magnetsko polje je veoma, veoma slabo;

it's 100 times weaker than a fridge magnet,

100 puta slabije od magneta za hladnjak,

and yet it affects the chemistry -- somehow -- within a living organism.

a ipak ima učinak na kemiju-nekako- unutar živih organizama.

That's not in doubt -- a German couple of ornithologists,

Tu nema dvojbe -- njemački par ornitologa,

Wolfgang and Roswitha Wiltschko, in the 1970s, confirmed that indeed,

Wolfgang i Roswitha Wiltschko, 1970-ih, su čak potvdili

the robin does find its way by somehow sensing the Earth's magnetic field,

da crvendać pronalazi svoj put nekako osjećajući Zemljino magnetsko polje

to give it directional information -- a built-in compass.

koje mu daje informaciju smjera -- ugrađeni kompas.

The puzzle, the mystery was: How does it do it?

Zagonetka, misterij je bio: Kako to čini?

Well, the only theory in town --

Pa, jedina teorija je --

we don't know if it's the correct theory, but the only theory in town --

ne znamo je li točna teorija, ali je jedina --

is that it does it via something called quantum entanglement.

da to čini nečim što se zove kvantna zapreka.

Inside the robin's retina --

U crvendaćevoj mrežnici --

I kid you not -- inside the robin's retina is a protein called cryptochrome,

ne zezam vas -- u crvendaćevoj mrežnici se nalazi protein zvan kriptokrom

which is light-sensitive.

koji je osjetljiv na svjetlo.

Within cryptochrome, a pair of electrons are quantum-entangled.

U kriptokromu je par elektrona u kvantnoj zapreci.

Now, quantum entanglement is when two particles are far apart,

Kvantna zapreka je kada su dvije čestice udaljene,

and yet somehow remain in contact with each other.

a ipak nekako ostaju u kontaktu.

Even Einstein hated this idea;

I Einstein je mrzio tu ideju;

he called it "spooky action at a distance."

nazvao ju je "jeziva akcija na udaljenosti".

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So if Einstein doesn't like it, then we can all be uncomfortable with it.

Dakle, ako se Einsteinu ne sviđa, onda nam svima može biti neugodna.

Two quantum-entangled electrons within a single molecule

Dva kvantno zapriječena elektrona u jednoj jedinoj molekuli

dance a delicate dance

plešu delikatan ples

that is very sensitive to the direction the bird flies

koji je veoma senzitivan prema smjeru ptičjeg leta

in the Earth's magnetic field.

u Zemljinom magnetnom polju.

We don't know if it's the correct explanation,

Ne znamo je li to točno objašnjenje,

but wow, wouldn't it be exciting if quantum mechanics helps birds navigate?

ali wow, ne bi li bilo uzbudljivo kad bu kvantna mehanika pomagala pticama u

orijentaciji?

Quantum biology is still in it infancy.

Kvantna biologija je još u povojima.

It's still speculative.

Još je špekulativna.

But I believe it's built on solid science.

Ali ja vjerujem da je izgrađena na čvrstoj znanosti.

I also think that in the coming decade or so,

Također mislim da ćemo u nadolazećem desetljeću ili slično,

we're going to start to see that actually, it pervades life --

početi shvaćati da ona zapravo prodire u život --

that life has evolved tricks that utilize the quantum world.

da je ovaj život razvio trikove da koristi kvantni svijet.

Watch this space.

Pogledajte ovaj svemir.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)