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Quantum Teleportation Achieved Over 7km of Cable (sciencealert.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ScienceAlert: Quantum teleportation just moved out of the lab and into the real world, with two independent teams of scientists successfully sending quantum information across several kilometers of optical fiber networks in Calgary, Canada, and Hefei, China. Quantum teleportation relies on a strange phenomenon called quantum entanglement. Basically, quantum entanglement means that two particles are inextricably linked, so that measuring the state of one immediately affects the state of the other, no matter how far apart the two are -- which led Einstein to call entanglement "spooky action at a distance." In the latest experiments, both published in Nature Photonics (here and here), the teams had slightly different set-ups and results. But what they both had in common is the fact that they teleported their information across existing optical fiber networks -- which is important if we ever want to build useable quantum communication systems. To understand the experiments, Anil Ananthaswamy over at New Scientist nicely breaks it down like this: picture three people involved -- Alice, Bob, and Charlie. Alice and Bob want to share cryptographic keys, and to do that, they need Charlie's help. Alice sends a particle to Charlie, while Bob entangles two particles and sends just one of them to Charlie. Charlie then measures the two particles he's received from each of them, so that they can no longer be differentiated -- and that results in the quantum state of Alice's particle being transferred to Bob's entangled particle. So basically, the quantum state of Alice's particle eventually ends up in Bob's particle, via a way station in the form of Charlie. The Canadian experiment followed this same process, and was able to send quantum information over 6.2 km of Calgary's fiber optic network that's not regularly in use.

6 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I Think this article might be a bit misleading. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No. This article clearly means we'll be transporting ourselves to Mars before the week is out.

  2. Re: I Think this article might be a bit misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Exactly. We just need to make sure no flies get into the pods before the doors shut.

  3. Re:I Think this article might be a bit misleading. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Elon, at least log in if you refuse to take your pills.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Re:Confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's entanglement of "laymen" and "lamers".

  5. Re:Why Alice Bob and Charlie? by Bromrrrrr · · Score: 3, Funny

    I always thought that it would be apropros to use Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice as example names for sharing.

    Ted and Alice broke up, though he doesn't know it yet.

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    What a rotten party, have we run out of beer or something?
  6. Re: I Think this article might be a bit misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Umm, this is Slashdot!

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    There's no need to be a nerd about it.