“Beam me up” is one of the most famous catchphrases from the Star Trek series. It is the command issued when a character wishes to teleport from a remote location back to the Starship Enterprise.
While human teleportation exists only in science fiction, teleportation is possible in the subatomic world of quantum mechanics—albeit not in the way typically depicted on TV. In the quantum world, teleportation involves the transportation of information, rather than the transportation of matter.
Last year scientists confirmed that information could be passed between photons on computer chips even when the photons were not physically linked.
Now, according to new research from the University of Rochester and Purdue University, teleportation may also be possible between electrons.
Read more at University of Rochester
Image: A quantum processor semiconductor chip is connected to a circuit board in the lab of John Nichol, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Rochester. Nichol and Andrew Jordan, a professor of physics, are exploring new ways of creating quantum-mechanical interactions between distant electrons, promising major advances in quantum computing. (Credit: University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)