Model Sweeps Every Deposited Ribosome Structure, Finds 240 Folding in Ways No Force Field Allows
JosephJacks_ · x · 2026-09-21
A viral thread describes an AI workflow that audited every ribosome structure ever deposited in the PDB and found 240 that fold in ways no force field permits. Rather than checking models against models, the model was asked which deposited atoms do something physics disallows.
The seven-step pipeline: PULL (coordinates only, no papers), STRAIN (score each bond angle and contact against chemistry), WARN (flag atoms held by fitting software, not data), TRACE (follow flagged atoms back to their resolution), MAP (check whether density ever supported the atom), WEIGHT (rank flags by downstream reliance).
The post also quotes Stuart Hameroff's fringe claim that AlphaFold-style models ignore quantum van der Waals couplings between aromatic rings of tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine — weak but numerous forces he equates with "the difference between a computer and a conscious brain." This remains a personal hypothesis outside mainstream consensus.
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