kAcknor Sez:
Hmmm.....
"tIqIpqu' 'ej nom tIqIp" (Hit them hard and hit them fast.) Basic HTML help for new FR posters. <Ver 1.4>
Posted on 09/27/2001 6:38:08 AM PDT by 6ppc
Wednesday September 26 2:56 PM ET Atom Experiment Brings Teleportation a Step Closer
LONDON (Reuters) - Physicists in Denmark have made two samples of trillions of atoms interact at a distance in an experiment which may bring Star Trek-style teleportation and rapid quantum computing closer to reality.
Eugene Polzik and his colleagues at the University of Aarhus are not about to beam anyone up to the Starship Enterprise, but their research reported in the science journal Nature on Wednesday makes the idea of instantly transporting an object from one place to another less far fetched.
It involves quantum entanglement -- a mysterious concept of entwining two or more particles without physical contact. Albert Einstein once described it as ``spooky action at a distance.''
Entangled states are needed for quantum computing and teleportation. Scientists have entangled states of a few atoms in earlier experiments but Polzik and his team have done it with very large numbers and using laser light.
``It is the first result where two macroscopic material objects have been entangled,'' Polzik explained in a telephone interview.
``We have produced entanglement at a distance which means you and me can share entangled objects which is important for quantum communication, including quantum teleportation.''
In 1998 what has been described as the first teleportation experiment was done when scientists at the California Institute of Technology teleported a beam of light across a laboratory bench.
Ignacio Cirac, a physicist at the University of Innsbruck in Austria said achievement of Polzik and his team could lead to real-life quantum communication systems, teleportation and quantum computers.
``This is the first time two different atomic samples have been entangled in this way -- using light -- even though the samples are separated by some distance,'' he said in a commentary in Nature.
Cirac believes further experiments will follow which could ''revolutionize the field of quantum information.''
How about teleporting him "The Fly" style, except using a pig? Then he'll be this pig mullah running around freaking out, beady little eyes all crazed, pulling madly at his snout poking out from beneath his turban with little hoofy fingers.
Capten, Aye kenna beam bin Laden: there be some things even ELECTRONICS willna touch. . . . .
(Gratuitous Schroedinger reference)
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See, I gotta problem with talk of "teleportation:"
1. Suppose you convert the person himself into energy and transmit him someplace; once the energy is there, you extract the information ("this carbon atom goes here; this sodium atom goes there...) and convert the energy somehow into the subject. The sheer quantity of energy could destroy the Earth very easily...
2. If you just record the position and identity of every atom and then transmit the information...the box on the other end has a big vat of atoms and selects the right ones... Oops, you now have a duplicate. I guess we gotta murder the original (back at home base). How do you think the original would feel? "Hey, don't get your panties in a wad; they assure us you arrived safe and secure on Pluto. Now hold still--quit struggling like that, it really is quite unseemly and makes it difficult to insert this needle..."
3. Such schemes (as I describe at least) are limited to light-speed, so teleporting to AlphaCentauri will take 4.3 years.
4. There probably has to be an immense amount of equipment at the far end, meaning somebody had to get there the hard way first to set it all up, collect all the atoms, etc.
There are numerous other objections; see Larry Niven for details.
--Boris
Reminds me of dialogue from The Black Adder. "So what you are saying is, you teleported a beam of light?"
"Yes."
"In other words, you switched on a flashlight over here, and pointed the beam over there?"
"Yes."
"Oh, God!"
--Boris
Never read it. By James Patrick Kelly, right?
Gimme a synopsis.
--Boris
kAcknor Sez:
Hmmm.....
"tIqIpqu' 'ej nom tIqIp" (Hit them hard and hit them fast.) Basic HTML help for new FR posters. <Ver 1.4>
Oh, God.
Have you been watching the new "Outer Limits"? There was a show on this very subject. Aliens gave us teleportation technology and people from earth were sent to the other world, but the original had to be killed. It was a very good show.
I said that very thing when I was in a chat room just yesterday...wow...weird.
Sounds like cyber-sex.
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