Megahertz Brain Waves, Microtubule Time Crystals, and the Physics of Consciousness | Stuart Hameroff

“Consciousness may not emerge from neurons firing — it may be the quantum music playing inside them.” At Deep Tech Week San Francisco 2025, Dr. Stuart Hameroff, anesthesiologist, professor, and co-creator of the Orch-OR theory of consciousness with Sir Roger Penrose, delivers a mind-bending exploration into the quantum physics of the brain — and why megahertz brain waves and microtubule time crystals could be the hidden heartbeat of awareness itself. In this talk, Hameroff reveals over 40 years of research connecting neuroscience, quantum mechanics, and anesthesia — from the origins of life and cognition to the possibility of consciousness before biology itself. Drawing on experimental data from nanotechnology labs in India, EEG studies, and ultrasound brain stimulation, Hameroff shows that consciousness might operate across a hierarchy of frequencies — from hertz-level cortical oscillations to megahertz and terahertz vibrations deep inside neurons.