dream of star trek-The quick trip of the genre has officially crossed the line from pure science fiction to frightening philosophical reality.
Scientists at the University of Rochester and Purdue University have made a significant breakthrough in quantum mechanics, showing that teleportation has moved closer to reality, but at the quantum level.
According to quantum teleportation, researchers found it possible to transfer the quantum state of one particle to another distant particle through “entanglement” without moving any physical matter.
Entanglement-based phenomena create a connection between distant particles regardless of distance.
Unlike the sci-fi transporters popularized by Star Trek 60 years ago, which magically move physical matter through destruction and reconstruction, quantum teleportation merely transfers information between particles over distance.
“Basically, nature is quantum,” said Jason Orcutt, a principal research scientist at IBM Quantum. “You are quantum information.”
scientific progress
The first experiments took place in the late 1990s, showing that quantum states could be transmitted only over short distances.
However, later research refuted this concept by proving that quantum teleportation is workable over long distances, even from low Earth orbit.
In 2017, Chinese scientists achieved a milestone by successfully demonstrating teleportation between Earth and a satellite in orbit.
‘No copying’ rule
In classic teleportation, you cannot transform matter without destroying its originality. For example, if you want to send a document, you can scan it and send it to someone else while keeping the original document with you.
Unfortunately, in the quantum world, the “no-cloning theorem” prevents this, meaning that one cannot make an identical copy of an unknown quantum state without destroying the original.
Implications for future science
While quantum teleportation will not lead to human travel, this breakthrough is a cornerstone of creating a “quantum internet” and advanced quantum computers capable of solving problems that are impossible with today’s technology.
“There are problems that are very hard, age of the universe hard, that we won’t be able to solve with classical computing,” Orcutt said.
Even these quantum computers may one day simulate the molecular world with complex chemical reactions with remarkable accuracy.
As a result, this will help researchers produce better fertilizers and revolutionary new materials for agriculture.
Can humans ever be teleported?
This technology offers little hope for human-based teleportation. When it comes to expanding this technology beyond particles to humans, it raises ethical concerns and existential questions. Worse, it gives rise to a long-standing philosophical debate: is the person materializing from the air actually the same person, or an imitation of him?
The destruction of the original creatures would lead to a dilemma defined by a society where duplicate human copies would roam freely.
“This is all based entirely on speculation,” Orcutt explained, “For now, the question of whether you can teleport a human being, let alone an atom, exists entirely in the realm of science fiction – and so do any answers to that question.”
Although the concept of teleportation sounds intriguing, it also comes with a troubling question: Is the convenience of instantaneous travel worth sacrificing our primal sense of self?
