beam me up scotty

IN a dramatic technological breakthrough, an Australian-based research team has teleported a message-encoded laser beam -- bringing the science fiction fantasy of "beaming" humans from one place to another a step closer.

Although Star Trek-style planet hopping is way into the future, teleporting -- disassembling objects in one place while a perfect replica is created elsewhere -- promises to revolutionise computing and communications over the next decade.

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I wish i was born a few hundred years later, imagine what its gonna be like then.

wow.. i hope i'm still here to see it.. (being the old fart that i am)

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Quantum teleportation could make encrypted or coded information 100 per cent secure, Dr Lam said, because even if intercepted the message would be unintelligible unless it was intended for a specific recipient.

This could be as revolutionary for a new class of superfast quantum computers as the transistor was for conventional computers. Quantum computers will be able to solve problems millions of times faster than current computers.

And the breakthrough could lead to an increase in the speed and quantity of information transferred in fibre optic communications.

"This technology would have tremendous potential for banks, financial institutions and governments who want to protect information," Dr Lam said.

"It should be possible to construct a perfect cryptography system. When two parties want to communicate with one another, we can enable the secrecy of the communication to be absolutely perfect."

But for a human to be teleported, a machine would have to be built that could pinpoint and analyse the trillions and trillions of atoms that make up the human body.

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Woah neato thank for the post

KEWL! :eek:

Yea! Aussie aussie aussie! Go go go!
hehehe
The teleporting of solid objects is quite a long way down the track though. Oh well, this brings new meaning to quantum crytography and SECURE communications. I wonder how the crackers/hackers/crytographers out their will break this.

I dunno if I want to be stepping into some contraption that breaks my body down into bits and pieces small enough to transport... Just a little too spooky for me... Remember the movie "The Fly"? LOL

I'm sure if we were all born 100 years later we would see it in action and working flawlessly, but as for me, I wish I had been born 100 years earlier, when times were simpler and a man's word was his bond and a six-shooter kept the peace...

Maybe the 'transporter' can only be used with abiotic factors. Because, imo, it's quite hard to beleive a living thing being beamed somewhere

Quantum entanglement isn't something comepletely new...transmitting information can be difficult...transmitting matter is a whole other ball game.

interesting.........but would your mind retain its memories and stuff, since, temporarily, electricity would cease to flow through your brain...........so you could suddenly have the mind of a child or some other bad thing......

And if you take apart a body, even atom by atom, would a person cease to function? I've always wondered that, and ultimately would it hurt? I mean, you're basically being disintegrated and reintegrated.....Sounds cool, looks pretty cool......just doesn't sound like it would feel good. I hope I'm around to see it though......

It may and it may not. Teleporting a human being may be one way to find out if we have anything more substantial than the physical body, and may answer a number of philosophical questions.

I also don't think it would hurt or that you'd lose memories, because memories are, as best we know, stored chemically in the brain, therefore if those same chemicals reappeared in the correct order elsewhere, the same memory would exist. Quite a lot is unknown about the human brain, so we'll have to see if teleporting dogs, cats, lab rats, etc. (animals that are capable of memory) are able to keep their memories in tact.. Then again, such a feat is likely a few years away. ;)

This just came to mind. Isn't this a bit like a wormhole in space? ... Which, theoretically is supposed to accomplish the same thing. And also...what happens if during the teleportation process, the "machine" is turned off right after you have been disassembled. Will you be lost forever? Dead? Can you return? ... will half of your body be in one place,..and the other half, another?

Sheesh...sounds icky.

Okay, even to say if we're more than just physiological makeup, our bodies don't just function on that alone. If you remove a vital organ, or even a piece of a vital organ, even though it's quick, will that organ stop functioning? Which leads to system failure and ultimately death? A human is too intricate to take apart as say a block of wood, where you're not going to damage cells, vessels, systems, tissues, and organs. If a tiny bubble of air is to enter your aortic chamber, it's a life and death sitation depending on the size of the bubble. How can taking your body apart and putting it back together be any different?

I thought about it a little bit, and I could see how it could be painless, and the rate that it takes place, I would assume for a second you'd probably feel a tingling to nothing while the transfer took place. If your nerves aren't connected to anything, they can't create pain. But how does the body just merge back together with all the intricacy?

Ahhhh...So many questions. Interesting topic. =)

The reason it would work would be because theoretically this takes place at the atomic level, which is far smaller than the cellular level. Chemical bonds and etc, will remain in tact at the atomic level during this kind of teleportation. Kinda cool though. :)

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Originally posted here by [WebCarnage]
Because, imo, it's quite hard to beleive a living thing being beamed somewhere

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100 years ago it would have been hard to believe that you could have such a thing as a video camera that could zoom in, and record anything in real time.

just a quick question. What about a person's spirit, soul, whatever you wish to call it. This involves a fourth dimension that science cant touch. I would think that the body might be there, but it would just be a hollow shell. Cause, can life exist for humans if their spirits are missing? Just thought i'd throw a monkey wrench in the works :)

just a quick question. What about a person's spirit, soul, whatever you wish to call it. This involves a fourth dimension that science cant touch. I would think that the body might be there, but it would just be a hollow shell. Cause, can life exist for humans if their spirits are missing? Just thought i'd throw a monkey wrench in the works :)