http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37556750/ns/technology_and_science-science/?GT1=43001

 

Scotty won't beam anybody anywhere anytime soon, but a new report by Chinese scientists shows that it is possible to transmit information over long distances using quantum entanglement.

 

The research, published in the current issue of the journal Nature Photonics, could lead to faster and smaller quantum-based computers and unbreakable, encrypted communication across the world.

 

"This is the longest reported distance over which photonic teleportation has been achieved to date, more than 20 times longer than the previous implementation," said Cheng-Zhi Peng, one of the co-authors of the study and a scientist at University of Science and Technology of China and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

 

In science fiction, teleportation usually describes the transfer of matter from one point to another, more or less instantaneously. In real physics, it's considered part of the "spookier" aspects of quantum mechanics (as Einstein famously derided the nascent field), that describes the behavior of the atoms and their constituent particles.

 

According to the theory, bits of light and matter can become entangled with one another and anything that happens to one particle will happen to the other, regardless of the distance or intervening matter. What the Chinese scientists managed to do was transmit change of state information from photon to photon over a distance of 16 kilometers.

 

In the past, scientists have had trouble separating entangled particles by more than several hundred yards; the particles become un-entangled, and what happens to one particle doesn't happen to the other particle.

 

In their new experiment, the Chinese scientists managed a quantum leap forward for quantum teleportation. Using a blue laser, a semiconductor, and a beta-barium borate crystal, the scientists first entangled two photons of light. Next, they sent one photon, which had slightly more energy, through about 10 miles of free space, from Beijing to a site in nearby Hebei province. When one photon changed its polarization, the other entangled photon changed its polarization as well.

 

The sheer distance the Chinese scientists teleported a photon's information is very impressive, said Benjamin Schumacher, a physicist at Kenyon College who reviewed the Nature Photonics paper but wasn't involved in the research. Ten miles is far enough to start thinking about a next-generation satellite communications network based on quantum teleportation, both Schumacher and Peng said.

 

Teleportation-based telephone calls wouldn't travel any faster than existing networks, Schumacher said. Entangled information arrives faster than the speed of light, but to read it scientists would need a key to decode the information, which would arrive using traditional communication at slower-than-light speeds.

 

A teleported telephone call would be impenetrable, however. Unlike radio waves, which send out a signal that enemies can pick out, eavesdropping on a teleported telephone call would be impossible. The two particles are entangled with themselves and no other particle, so the quantum mechanical equations simply do not allow it, said Schumacher.

 

 

The research could also dramatically speed up computing power. Quantum computing, using entangled particles, has been a dream of physicists for decades. Such computers would be vastly more powerful than existing electronics, and transmitting information across entangled particles with 89 percent accuracy, as the Chinese team managed, is a big step forward towards quantum computing.

 

A communication system named after a "Star Trek" trick might seem futuristic, but practical ground-to-satellite teleportation could be in place in as little as two years, said Schumacher. That's exactly what the Chinese scientists hope to try over the next few years, said Peng.

 

With sophisticated telescopes, radar and a low-Earth orbit satellite, the Chinese scientist expect they can teleport information from Earth to a spacecraft and back down to Earth.

 

Scotty would be impressed

 

I was reading some headlines on MSN this morning and came across this. Since teleportation is possible, do you believe that it will eventually be adapted into being able to transport people in the same way as Star Trek? How do you see this technology being used 50 years from now?

This is cool, but I don't see how they can call this teleportation. Quantum entanglement is a better word for it.

Chinese scientists did this? It must be propoganda. :mrgreen:

This seems to be not teleportation in the sense we consider it, this is jsut transferring atomic changes from more point to another. Useful for "teleporting" energy and thus light, sound, heat etc. but isn't actually moving anything; the original atom is still in the place it began.

 

However about 3 years or so ago now they did teleport a single atom in a more literal sense.

However about 3 years or so ago now they did teleport a single atom in a more literal sense.

 

 

I would be interested in reading that.

This immediately sprung to mind.

 

I love xkcd for the fact there is literally a comic for any internet thread out there.

Really, the only use for this at the moment is military communications (short range at that). And even that is theory, they haven't actually teleported anything yet, much less a conversation, so it's still pointless.

in terms of energy, the difference between photons and even electrons is so large that we'd need some revolutionary new type of power source: hydrogen fusion wouldn't be enough.

 

where would that kind of power come from, unless your teleporter is powered by the core of a star (which is also fusion, but so much more power-intense)?

Leave it up to the media to mis-report any story there is. The entire article is a misinterpretation.

It's not actual teleportation. This is quantum entanglement, which is different, and old news. The only 'advancement' they've made is getting one photon 10 miles from the other, it's a fancy optical cable.

 

The thing is with quantum entanglement is that you still need to get a constant stream of photons from the 'splitting crystal' to the receiving end. You can't recycle the photons because they disentangle as soon as they are observed, but it still doesn't discriminate who observes them, so they can still be interfered with. It's just that the intended receiver won't get the message.

Star Trek invented cell phones. Among many otehr things. I don't see teleportation in our future though :/

"It only moves short distances, so its useless" "Its too small...noob" "it sucks"

 

Jesus, don't you guys realize all great inventions come in short steps? The motion picture was just a quick flipping through sheets of paper. Now we got high-capturing cameras and stuff.

 

It might not be teleportation, but if I'm reading this right, it sends information at light speeds without being intersected. Space missions anyone?

"It only moves short distances, so its useless" "Its too small...noob" "it sucks"

 

Jesus, don't you guys realize all great inventions come in short steps? The motion picture was just a quick flipping through sheets of paper. Now we got high-capturing cameras and stuff.

 

It might not be teleportation, but if I'm reading this right, it sends information at light speeds without being intersected. Space missions anyone?

 

Well, it also takes time to decipher it, so I don't see it being that useful unless it's communication from Earth to Mars or some other space mission.

 

Also, I feel rather irritated about the article misleading me. Serves me right, I suppose. That's just another reason why not to use MSNBC or most other American media sources for that matter...

Also, I feel rather irritated about the article misleading me. Serves me right, I suppose. That's just another reason why not to use MSNBC or most other American media sources for that matter...

 

Every news Website and newspaper does the same. It's not totally misleading, but yes, it's designed to get the maximum amount of readers. Imagine how many people (besides a specialist audience) would read a title like: 'Scientists enhance practicality of Quantum Entanglement'. Not very catchy I would say. I know it's not right, but they have to get readers somehow.

 

On Topic: It will have its uses eventually, but for now it's basically just something for scientists to toy around with.

 

Also, I feel rather irritated about the article misleading me. Serves me right, I suppose. That's just another reason why not to use media sources to develop my knowledge...

 

Fixed. Theres no reason to think you are getting an authentic story from any newspaper or magazine or TV news report. They either cut information, reword information to make it sound more exciting, or dumb down information.