Microtubules are ‘Fractal Time Crystals’: Implications for Life and Consciousness

Microtubules are cylindrical lattice polymers of the protein tubulin which organize purposeful activities in brain neurons and all eukaryotic cells. Here we report that microtubules behave as ‘fractal time crystals’, characterized by self-similar resonance oscillations, ‘clocks within clocks’ in a nested hierarchy of similar dynamics (‘triplets‐of‐triplets’) which repeat in hertz, kilohertz, megahertz, gigahertz, and terahertz frequencies. Megahertz triplets are detectable from human scalp beyond traditional EEG frequencies, and are suppressed by general anaesthetics, indicating a connection to consciousness. The Orch OR theory proposes that consciousness results from quantum state reductions in microtubules consistent with time crystal behaviour. We identify distinct microtubule oscillatory subsystems responsible for collective oscillations in 1) kilohertz (tubulin C-termini), 2) megahertz (tubulin lattice phonons, polaritons), 3) gigahertz (microtubule hollow core ordered water oscillations), and 4) terahertz (aromatic π-electron transitions within tubulins). Life may require microtubule time crystals for spatio-temporal organization, collective intelligence, causal agency, feelings, and consciousness. Microtubules are the first biological time crystals to be proposed, and time crystal behaviour may be a fundamental property of living systems, connecting condensed matter physics, quantum biology, and the science of consciousness. We conclude with an assessment of our approach with Schneider and Bailey’s target article, ‘Superpsychism’.