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Single-Photon LED: Key To Uncrackable Encryption?

Posted by timothy on from the morse-code-writ-small dept.

nut writes: "The BBC are carrying this story of new type of LED so precise that it can emit just one photon of light each time it is switched on. It has been developed by scientists from Toshiba Research Limited and the University of Cambridge. It is described in the journal Science, although I can find no mention of it on their website. One of the applications of this is supposedly uncrackable encryption, due to the law of indeterminacy. This application is described fully in 'The Code Book', by Simon Singh, although the method was only theoretical at the time the book was first published."

9 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. First Posts by sneakybilly · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Do people who get first posts even read the article? mmmmm I know I didn't just wanted to get in the top ten :)

    1. Re:First Posts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Yes. But only if it doesn't make the front page.

      Or they saw the article on another site and just noticed it on slashdot.

      But generally, if it makes it to the front page, the first post will invariably be crap. ;)

  2. Second post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    #eet

  3. Glowing by Renraku · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    If you had an entire array of these single-photon lights, couldn't it add an eerie glow to an object? Hopefully we can nanoscale these LED's and make things glow eerily.

    --
    Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
  4. Question by cscx · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I *know* it's an LED, but the question is, can you run Linux on it?

  5. Re:uncrackable encryption or no, that's just cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Well, I'm no MSCE but you're one hell of an unfunny asshole!

  6. Badly written Troll by horza · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Sorry, this only gets 3/10 as a troll. I appreciate the attempt at humour but you contradict yourself all over the place, and are a bit *obvious* with some attempted analogies and factual inaccuracies. Plz make the satire a bit more subtle next time.

    Look forwards to next attempt,

    Phillip.

    --
    Property for sale in Nice, France
  7. Re:Irresponsible (Getting OT, sorry) by bonoboy · · Score: 2, Offtopic


    I'm sorry, I must say that for once scientists have charged ahead and decided that stem cell research is for the benefit of all humanity, and should be applauded! After the fucked up things scientists have given us (the nuke, et al) it's good that something which acts at the fundamental, medical level - not just a new toy - is being taken seriously enough that those with the knowledge are willing to risk going to jail to bring it to us.



    "Ethical" ramifications are never hashed out. People just argue ad infinitum. How long, exactly, would you say they should wait? Until either everyone on earth shares the same religion or there is no religion anywhere? Until everyone is in exactly the same sociopolitical caste and there's no racism, so everyone agrees? Dream on. Stem cell research will do more to improve the lives of humans than anything prior. Just give it time to become available to everyone. Not developing it won't make anyone's life better. So why wait?

    --
    toeslikefingers.com - because
  8. Look who's a connasirrrrr of trolling now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Trolling isn't about subtle satire. It's about people not spotting blatant satire. What's funny about people being taken in by a subtle hoax? Well?