The progress toward Star Trek technology continues.
As we have reported here in the past, Ray Kurzweil continues to "beam into" various meetings from remote locations. He uses simulated teleportation (transporter) technology that makes use of real holography (holodeck) technology.
But if, like me, you find "simulated" teleportation technology to be something of a cop-out, consider this:
Australian scientists claim breakthrough in teleportationA more complex form of information teleportation involving multiple recipients has been developed by researchers at Canberra's Australian National University.
The researchers used crystals, lenses and mirrors to produce a pair of "entangled" laser beams that are then used to carry information in the form of quantum states. The encrypted message can only be decoded by a majority of recipients, allowing for greater security.
Right now, we're "only" able to teleport information. Hmm...I wonder which of the following will happen first:
1. Teleportation technology will advance to the point that we can send physical objects, including people.
2. Human uploading will be accomplished, redefining human beings as information which can be teleported using refinements of the technology described above.
Yeah, telepresence ain't teleportation by any stretch. It's very cool, but the two are as far removed as cinema is from live theater.
Since the information is sent via laser, we're not talking about the transmission of information instantly using a quantum effect. This doesn't violate Einstein's idea that the absolute speed limit for information is the speed of light. Spooky quantum effects can occur simultaneously regardless of distance, but these have proven useless for transporting information.
http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae634.cfm
As for which will come first, I'm on record for option number "2"
http://www.speculist.com/archives/000729.html
Posted by: Stephen Gordon at May 10, 2004 01:16 PM