Ok, now this is an example of exactly the kind of bleeding edge theoretical science that casues an awkward dissonance between my conspiratorial sense of creativity informed by subjective value judgements of eastern martial and religious disciplines and my skeptical scientific instincts (well, rapidly aging web hacker instincts).
http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20140017222508.shtml
The theory under review, known as "orchestrated objective reduction" (Orch OR), was put forward by Penrose and Hameroff in the mid-1990s. It proposes that quantum vibrational computations in microtubules (major components of a cell's structural skeleton) are "orchestrated" (Orch) by synaptic inputs and memory, and terminated by Penrose's "objective reduction" (OR).
Orch OR was harshly criticized from its inception, as the brain was considered too "warm, wet, and noisy" for such seemingly delicate quantum processes. However, recent research has now shown warm quantum coherence in plant photosynthesis, bird brain navigation, and brain microtubules. In particular, the discovery of warm temperature quantum vibrations in microtubules by a research group led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay in Japan, goes a long way to corroborating Penrose and Hameroff's original theory. Penrose says his and Hameroff's new paper updates the evidence and clarifies Orch OR quantum bits as helical pathways in microtubule lattices.
Even the site name ScienceAGogo contributes to the sense that this is complete b.s. Until you review the academics involved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose
http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/...CUniverse1.pdf
Orch OR suggests that there is a connection between the brain’s biomolecular processes
and the basic structure of the universe.
Here's the researcher whose work is mentioned as something of a validation in the review of the admittedly nutty sounding Orch OR theory. Now I'm still skeptical (I think I saw Chopra's name pop up in association) but his c.v. looks flawless to me.
http://www.anirbanlab.co.nr/