Quantum Teleportation Reaches Farthest Distance Yet

Do~DO! Do~DO! Do~DO! Earth to cyberspace! Oh there you are...instantly teleported even as I speak (sort of). Just in time, too. Coffee's hot in the pot and the virtual quantum muffins are waiting for you. Did I say Quantum? Read on...

A new distance record has been set in the strange world of quantum teleportation. The pictured crystals captured and stored quantum information at the end of the teleportation.

In a recent experiment, the quantum state (the direction it was spinning) of a light particle instantly traveled 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) across an optical fiber, becoming the farthest successful quantum teleportation feat yet. 

Advances in quantum teleportation could lead to better Internet and communication security, and get scientists closer to developing quantum computers. About five years ago, researchers could only teleport quantum information, such as which direction a particle is spinning, across a few meters. Now, they can beam that information across several miles. [Twisted Physics: 7 Mind-Blowing Findings]

Quantum teleportation doesn't mean it's possible for a person to instantly pop from New York to London, or be instantly beamed aboard a spacecraft like in television's "Star Trek." Physicists can't instantly transport matter (yet, I say), but they can instantly transport information through quantum teleportation.

Quantum information has already been transferred dozens of miles, but this is the farthest it's been transported using an optical fiber, and then recorded and stored at the other end. Other quantum teleportation experiments that beamed photons farther used lasers instead of optical fibers to send the information. But unlike the laser method, the optical-fiber method could eventually be used to develop technology like quantum computers that are capable of extremely fast computing, or quantum cryptography that could make secure communication possible.

Physicists think quantum teleportation will lead to secure wireless communication — something that is extremely difficult but important in an increasingly digital world. Advances in quantum teleportation could also help make online banking more secure.

Beam me up, Scotty!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Note: I cut out a lot of the technical info in this post. If you want to read more about it, go here:

Source: http://www.livescience.com/49028-farthest-quantum-teleportation.html