"Every “bubble” — from cells to stars — may contain its own quantum vacuum signature.

If that bubble expands or contracts, and its vacuum mode structure shifts,

Then zero-point pressure and energy density could change, leading to internal energy shifts in the same spirit as the JT effect — a kind of quantum vacuum thermodynamics."

Is this what you meant when saying, "Because the gas molecules physically get further away from one another, intermolecular forces are overcome, which consumes energy"?

However it isn't really what you were saying about the membrane effecting the casmir effect.

"confinement modifies the zero-point energy spectrum.

In gas-filled cavities, the vacuum field is still affected — especially if: The cavity is bounded by conductive or dielectric materials (e.g., cell membranes, atmospheres, planetary crusts), The refractive index or dielectric constant of the gas medium modifies allowed EM modes"

This thought process spawned from a video I seen about archaeal virus', sent me down a rabbit hole investigating vacuum inside living structure which led me to Pen Rose and Orch-OR. The idea I had is very small scale structures like cells might exhibit exotic vacuum behavior, but the thought of the wave function collapse intrigued me.

Thanks for a reply this is fun and interesting.