Scientists achieve quantum teleportation of data with 100 percent accuracy

[Otter]

I can only picture Spock saying "fascinating"

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/comput...#ixzz33JAfCB4X

Dutch scientists working with the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at the Delft University of Technology have made a stunning breakthrough in quantum technology by successfully teleporting data across a distance of about 10 feet with perfect accuracy, reports the New York Times. The advance ought to have Albert Einstein, who famously dismissed the idea of quantum teleportation as "spooky action at a distance," rolling in his grave.

Einstein struggled mightily with many of the theoretical consequences of quantum theory, perhaps none more so than the notion of entanglement, the phenomenon that makes teleportation possible. It's easy to understand why; the idea is, well, downright spooky.

Entanglement is the weird instantaneous link that has been shown to exist between certain particles, such as photons or electrons, even if they are separated by vast distances. Although entangled particles do not appear to have any physical connection, they are capable of acting in concert. For instance, if you change the spin of one, the spin of the other will also be altered. All of this happens instantaneously, even if the two particles exist at opposite ends of the universe, as if they are one. How exactly the phenomenon happens is a complete mystery. That it happens, however, has been verified by numerous experiments.

The task for scientists hoping to invent teleportation technology is to hijack this phenomenon, but it's no easy task. Entangled particles are frustratingly fickle, difficult to capture and even more difficult to manipulate. But the breakthrough made by the Kavli Institute scientists could be a game-changer. It not only demonstrates that quantum teleportation is possible, but that it is technologically applicable.

Previous attempts to teleport information by manipulating entangled particles have been promising, but have fallen short of practical application. For instance, a University of Maryland study back in 2009 demonstrated that it could be done, but only one out of every 100 million attempts succeeded. At that speed, it would take about 10 whole minutes to transfer just a single bit of quantum information.

Comparatively, the Kavli Institute scientists were able to achieve the feat 100 percent of the time, essentially accomplishing deterministic control over the phenomenon. They did so by producing quantum bits using electrons trapped in diamonds at extremely low temperatures. These ultra-cold gemstones effectively acted as prisons, trapping the electrons and allowing the scientists to accurately establish their spin, or value.

If they can repeat the experiment over distances significantly larger than 10 feet, it could mean that incomprehensibly fast quantum computers and a quantum internet are just around the corner.

“There is a big race going on between five or six groups to prove Einstein wrong,” said Ronald Hanson, a physicist who leads the group at Delft. “There is one very big fish.”

[cmh6476]

wut?

[unlurking]

Real time communications for space travel! W00t!

Where's my spacesuit?!

[ct]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Real time communications for space travel! W00t!

Where's my spacesuit?!

Forget real time communications, think bigger, transmitting physical matter across the universe, a star gate.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by ct

Forget real time communications, think bigger, transmitting physical matter across the universe, a star gate.

Or time travel

[CoMoChief]

This surely won't create any problems whatsoever.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by ct

Forget real time communications, think bigger, transmitting physical matter across the universe, a star gate.

This doesn't transmit physical matter. Not a scientist, but I've never understood how people get teleportation from this?

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_teleportation
Although the name is inspired by the teleportation commonly used in fiction, current technology provides no possibility of anything resembling the fictional form of teleportation. While it is possible to teleport one or more qubits of information between two (entangled) atoms,^[1][2][3] this has not yet been achieved between molecules or anything larger. One may think of teleportation either as a kind of transportation, or as a kind of communication; it provides a way of transporting a qubit from one location to another, without having to move a physical particle along with it.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Or time travel

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by unlurking

This doesn't transmit physical matter. Not a scientist, but I've never understood how people get teleportation from this?

Perhaps we could work on transmitting that part of us that isn't physical in nature.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

Perhaps we could work on transmitting that part of us that isn't physical in nature.

Heh. Our digital souls?

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Your talking about molecular acceleration faster than the speed of light this is the 1st step.

[Bambi]

what are you talking about? wifi?

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Heh. Our digital souls?

The idea of a digital soul is intriguing, but transmitting souls is nothing new. It's been going on for millennia.

I was thinking more about the advantages of being able to address the situation from point of view of transmitting a mind rather than restricting it to the idea of transporting a brain and body.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

The idea of a digital soul is intriguing, but transmitting souls is nothing new. It's been going on for millennia.

I was thinking more about the advantages of being able to address the situation from point of view of transmitting a mind rather than restricting it to the idea of transporting a brain and body.

But wouldn't that violate the no-cloning theorem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-cloning_theorem)? Can't have two minds in a different state. As soon as one mind observes different surroundings, the states have changed. What happens when you erase your mind on one end, does it survive on the other? (Oh wait I guess you could just copy the data off the "entanglement gizmo" to a new container before erasing both ends.)

Although, how does one create "entangled pairs"? I'm assuming they have to be created together, which means one of them would have to make a long trip first.

(We need some real science geeks to post up something more understandable for the "less edumacated" like me.)

[Pitt Gorilla]

Eh, Decepticons have had the space bridges for years.