How Far Are We Away From Teleportation?

Three years ago, scientists were able to successfully teleport the quantum state of an atom without any physical link. Since first understanding quantum entanglement nearly six years ago, how much closer are we now to human teleportation? It sounds like we're not that much closer. Scientists have been focusing more on transferring the atomic state of one atom to another in a different physical location. However, since the process of transmission destroys the original atom, multiple copies of the atom are not being created. That said, Star Trek style teleportation may not even require complete transmission of the quantum state. Charles Bennett, of IBM Research, believes that in principle, human teleportation would be possible by scanning the bio-molecular structure. He states that the "teleported person would end up slightly different, but not in a biologically important way." However, we are still clearly quite a ways away from even attempting such a feat to be truly concerned about the ramifications yet -- we are made up of approximately 10²⁸ atoms, so the technology to scan and reproduce at such a scale is not even remotely possible yet. So, while theoretically possible, scientists are pessimistic about teleportation's realistic feasibility. For now, it looks like the only teleportation we'll be seeing is on television -- but then again, never underestimate the ingenuity of inventors and entrepreneurs.

Posted: 10/12/2007 10:59:53 PM

Link: techdirt.com

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