Transporters

[Tsyroc]

Quantum Engtanglement?

Just saw a brief news article on ABC News. It was about an Australian group who claims to have teleported a laser beam. I didn't follow all of what they actually did but supposedly it builds on the what Cal Tech did in teleporting a photon. They did say that the laser beam was actually destroyed, teleported somewhere else and recreated.

I figured I'd mention this here before someone starts arguing (again) how Trek technology is so much more believable than Wars etc... yadda yadda.

Of course the stupid news article had a lot of Trek references and clips even though the scientists were quoted saying that they human body has entirely too many atoms for teleportion to be feasable.

[Lord of the Farce]

Not to mentioned that having your entire body destroyed down to the atoms and then recreated elsewhere sounds a bit like... cloning.

[Mr Bean]

Best if we test it on things that don't matter first

Like JW's

[Darth Wong]

Best if we test it on things that don't matter first

Like JW's

But JW's are already clones.

[Mr Bean]

Well look at it this way

Now even THEY know they are

[Nick]

Quantum Engtanglement?

Just saw a brief news article on ABC News. It was about an Australian group who claims to have teleported a laser beam. I didn't follow all of what they actually did but supposedly it builds on the what Cal Tech did in teleporting a photon. They did say that the laser beam was actually destroyed, teleported somewhere else and recreated.

There was some other thread where I brought this up. . . oh, that's right - the FTL one. And the Australian group where teleporting photons, too :>

Anyway, the most likely (but still bloody improbable) mechanism for transporting is the same technology that would go into a replicator. The only difference is that there is a communications link between the digitisation step and the reproduction step. Quantum entanglement is neat, because it appears to allow communication faster than the speed of light - but light speed transporters don't require any such exotic mechanism.

And as Mr Wong has said - such a device might be useful for moving some forms of freight, but I sure as hell wouldn't be putting myself through one.

[Alan Bolte]

Actually, I believe they've entangled something as large as a golf-ball sized cloud of cesium using a surprisingly simple technique involving lasers. I have a SciAm article about it around here somewhere. However, something as complicated as a protien will probably take many years of research, if it is even possible by known methods.

EDIT - spelling

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

I'm not getting in a rtansporter! I'll just walk! I think those Trekkies that say transporters are possible because some microscopic particle was transported were using a really bad leap of logic.