HUMANITY! We are at the brink of a new age!

[Zombie Biscuit]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/225394/quantum_teleportation_is_a_reality.html

'Beam me up, Scotty; scientists have finally done it! Using what looks like an incredibly complicated setup, scientists have not just figured out how to transport information using the quantum highway; they have actually made it happen.

In the past, such teleportation experiments were either slow, or there was information loss in the process. This new experiment procedure eliminated both of those concerns; the team transported a 'cat'--Schrödinger\'s cat to be exact. No, it wasn\'t a real cat, but instead were wave packets of light which represented Schrödinger\'s cat, a paradox in which something has two states at the same time (the cat is both living and dead)--a condition called called quantum superposition. Quantum computers work (or will work) by storing data as quibits which can represent one and zero at the same time; this would allow them to solve multiple problems simultaneously.

To do this, the researchers developed a 'broadband, zero-dispersion teleportation apparatus' and a whole new set of 'hybrid protocols involving discrete- and continuous-variable techniques in quantum information processing for optical sciences,' along with some other things that I completely do not understand. In the end, the researchers managed to \'remove\' the quantum information from space, and it was resurrected in another place.

Not only did the 'quantum information' exist in a state of quantum superposition, but the transfer was quick. Check Science (you\'ll need a membership or you\'ll have to pay for the article) to get all the nitty-gritty details!

The research was led by University of Tokyo researchers from the Department of Applied Physics, with some intercontinental assistance from the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at the University of New South Wales.

Elanor Huntington, a professor at the University of New South Wales who participated in the study, says that 'one of the limitations of high-speed quantum communication at present is that some detail is lost during the teleportation process. It\'s the Star Trek equivalent of beaming the crew down to a planet and having their organs disappear or materialise in the wrong place. We\'re talking about information but the principle is the same--it allows us to guarantee the integrity of transmission.'

Is she saying that not only will we be able to transport information on a global scale almost instantly but that we might also be able to transport objects? It sure sounds like it.

Huntington goes on to say, 'If we can do this, we can do just about any form of communication needed for any quantum technology.' In other words, quantum computing is just around the corner!

Personally, I am very excited for this new discovery. Just by looking at the picture above you can see the insane amount of effort and intelligence that must have gone into producing this study. In other words, the future is bright for humanity!'

BUT! This is not 'true' teleportation in a physical sense, it is simply a 'theoretical teleportation' needing an actual A-to-B bridge.

Still, now scientists can, for example, control the Mars Rover with a joystick constantly instead of having to input a code every 5-20 minutes. Instant internet. Can you imagine it? We could send a ship into space and give it energy from here. Or HD television for astronauts in other planets. It is the future happening before our eyes. Another example: you are an astronaut on Mars and had problems with your command pod. You don\'t have to wait until they send you a recording every 20 minutes, it is isntant communication. And there also is quantum computation. Geezus (see what I did there with the gee?).

[Kryten]

Do you really think PC world is going to be the best source for quantum physics discoveries?

I can see very little in that article that isn\'t outright wrong.

Quantum teleportation is a term for any transmission of quantum states-it isn\'t near instant, and uses conventional information transmission (e.g. fibre optics) as part of the process. It\'s completely useless for transmitting normal (classical) information, and certainly has nothing to do with \'teleporting\' objects.

It might be useful in quantum computing, but that\'s it.

If you read through it, it\'s very clear that the writer doesn\'t understand what he\'s supposed to be writing about.

[Zombie Biscuit]

You are right. But maybe The University of New South Wales might have something better to say about it, right?

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/quantum-teleporter-breakthrough

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/quantum-age-edges-closer

[Kryten]

That\'s definitely a better source.

This process means we will be able to move blocks of quantum information around within a computer or across a network, just as we do now with existing computer technologies.

It always astounds me how magazine writers can start with something like this, and end up with something as incoherent as that article.

[Tiberion]

Its also just silly that these computer scientists continue to insist in calling it 'quantum computing' when it has nothing to do with Quantum physics in the slightest. And then to call a data moving operation 'teleportation' just adds to the confusion. It\'s pure hype, and causing ridiculous ms-information like the laughable PC-World article. The poor guy heard 'Star Trek' and jumped to a conclusion.

Sigh.

[Zombie Biscuit]

Its also just silly that these computer scientists continue to insist in calling it 'quantum computing' when it has nothing to do with Quantum physics in the slightest. And then to call a data moving operation 'teleportation' just adds to the confusion. It\'s pure hype, and causing ridiculous ms-information like the laughable PC-World article. The poor guy heard 'Star Trek' and jumped to a conclusion.

Sigh.

I actually think that it would make it easier for the nutheads of today to understand

[RedDwarfIV]

If it were true I would walk into PC World with a protest placard, and start singing that song about Sirius Cybernetics Corperation matter transporters from The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to The Galaxy.

[Zombie Biscuit]

If it were true I would walk into PC World with a protest placard, and start singing that song about Sirius Cybernetics Corperation matter transporters from The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to The Galaxy.

Read the Wales University\'s article then.

[Hypocee]

That\'s definitely a better source.It always astounds me how magazine writers can start with something like this, and end up with something as incoherent as that article.

It\'s really pretty easy with practice. If 7 things a week aren\'t revolutionary challenges to the whole of SCIENCE! they don\'t get to eat. 'Evil is a little man afraid for his job'.

[Darrknox]

This is akin to throwing a stone and cavemen claiming they\'re already on their way flight.

[Tomokatu]

Read the Wales University\'s article then.

[/quote

That\'s NEW SOUTH WALES! a completely different place.

That\'s why it\'s called The Antipodes.

[RayvenQ]

If it were true I would walk into PC World with a protest placard, and start singing that song about Sirius Cybernetics Corperation matter transporters from The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to The Galaxy.

Misread that as a protest Picard!

[Iskierka]

Its also just silly that these computer scientists continue to insist in calling it 'quantum computing' when it has nothing to do with Quantum physics in the slightest. And then to call a data moving operation 'teleportation' just adds to the confusion. It\'s pure hype, and causing ridiculous ms-information like the laughable PC-World article. The poor guy heard 'Star Trek' and jumped to a conclusion.

Sigh.

It\'s quantum computing because it utilises newer aspects of quantum physics to perform very precise operations on pretty much singular particles, instead of huge CPU maps. No, the computer scientists don\'t have any clue what they\'re on about, but they are correct that quantum physics is related, if only because someone told one of them, and this time it was lucky that the perpetuated terminology is correct.

Also, while I haven\'t read the articles yet, to my knowledge, Kryten is only half-right; at least, it\'s already been demonstrated that entanglement is near-instant, (at least 10,000x c), and suspected to actually be instant. The fibres are used to split the entangled particles apart, but after that, the communication being superluminal is true.

The problem is controlling, manipulating, and reading those states being transmitted, preferably without breaking the entanglement; that\'s what will be necessary for the things they\'re hyping over, such as quantum computing, and direct control of Martian rovers. And so far the best we seem to have on that is some technobabble over on the EVE Online website.

[Caesar15]

I teleport all the time, I teleport my thoughts to other ppl, aka texting

[LukeTim]

Its also just silly that these computer scientists continue to insist in calling it 'quantum computing' when it has nothing to do with Quantum physics in the slightest. And then to call a data moving operation 'teleportation' just adds to the confusion. It\'s pure hype, and causing ridiculous ms-information like the laughable PC-World article. The poor guy heard 'Star Trek' and jumped to a conclusion.

Sigh.

Given that even current computing technologies rely heavily on quantum theory for their operation, and that 'quantum computing' is even more deeply entrenched in quantum theory than these, I would be prepared to deem this bolded statement completely inaccurate.

As for whether the use of the word teleportation is correct. That just depends upon your definition of the word teleportation. I would say that it is correct. Just because it is not the same sort of teleportation that we are familiar with seeing in Sci-Fi, does not mean it is still not teleportation.