Teleportation

We are probably at least 50 years away from teleporting humans from one location to another, a concept commonly found in science-fiction stories like those told in the "Star Trek" films and TV series. But British astronomer David Darling writes convincingly in his 2005 book, "Teleportation - The Impossible Leap," that we are close to being able to teleport individual atoms and molecules - the first step toward human movement. Next would come the teleportation of macromolecules and microbes, which would eventually lead into the teleportation of humans.

How possible is this? As of 2005, researchers had successfully teleported beams of light across a laboratory bench, and the quantum structure of a trapped calcium ion to a second calcium ion had been teleported. Networked quantum computers are the key. They are more complex than today's commonplace, bit-oriented computers, and will be able to accomplish more complex tasks. They use quantum mechanical aspects such as "entanglement" and "superposition" to perform operations on data.

"Teleportation is going to play a major role in all our futures," Darling writes. "It will be a fundamental process at the heart of quantum computers, which will themselves radically change the world." He adds that replication of inanimate objects will also be developed through the same scientific developments. He says it is "a question of simply overcoming technical challenges," and adds that quantum computing is the "factor that changes the rules of what is and isn't possible."

Michio Kaku, a co-founder of String Field Theory, also predicts this: "The nation which dominates the world economy may be the one which masters the nano world of atomic and quantum computing. Then quantum events … will be the source of the world's wealth. The Silicon Age is coming to a close. Welcome to the Quantum Age, where even button-down bankers will have to learn the mysteries of the multiverse."

Teleporting a living human would require a machine that can isolate, classify and track more than a trillion atoms then send them to another location for reassembly in perfect order. Darling predicts robots or humans will be teleported to other planets or even across interstellar distances.

He projects that, when nanotechnology is mature, an automated nanoassembly unit could be teleported to any destination - perhaps a far-flung planet - and given remote orders to build a robot explorer from the molecular level to full functionality. The robot could then evaluate this new terrain and send the information back to Earth. No space travel involved. It could also be possible to build spacecraft in remote locations using local materials and then use the remote locale as a base from which to explore in the spacecraft.