perform a quantum mechanical simulation of an ion passing through a voltage-gated ion channel and discovered that the ion is delocalized (spread out) when it travels through the channel: more of a coherent wave than a particle. Also, this ion wave oscillates at very high frequencies and transfers energy to the surrounding protein by a kind of resonance process so that the channel effectively acts as an ion refrigerator that reduces the kinetic energy of the ion by about half. This effective cooling of the ion helps to maintain its delocalized quantum state by keeping decoherence at bay and
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