[6ppc]

Let's beam Bin Laden into the center of Central Park!

[6ppc]

Self serving bump...how about beaming a herd of pigs into his bunker?

[freefly]

.

[boris]

Next they'll try it on a cat.

(Gratuitous Schroedinger reference)

===========

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

[boris]

" 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."

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

[LJLucido]

Will we get to take clothes and/or carry-on luggage with us when we are teleported, or do you end up naked at your destination?

[Tex-Con-Man]

``We have produced entanglement at a distance which means you and me can share entangled objects which is important...

I said that very thing when I was in a chat room just yesterday...wow...weird.

[Jolly Rodgers]

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.''

Sounds like cyber-sex.

[patlaw_guy]

Cool stuff. If this is anything like the IBM experiments, then matter isn't transported, but rather the information about the relationships between the atoms is transported to a different location. Local atoms are in turn organized into the structure defined by that information. An interesting way to instantly build a lunar base (or military base) from a distance.

[onedoug]

Flag.

Continuing on the work of Alaine Aspect?