the speed limit of 3x10^8 m/s still applies to information transfer by 'teleportation'; makes you wonder if 'teleportation' is nothing more than an illusion.

What the...?

I'm red-shifting!

hmmm. Yes, quantum teleportation.

Quantum cryptography - messages accompanied by 'keys' contain secret messages.

this link is better. read the second sentence of section 3 of the first summary

http://scienceweek.com/2004/sa040827-4.htm

Again. FEW DAYS ago there was an EXPERIMENT in Vienna University, they used very interesting approach tackling the problem, all worked well, that is new great progress in science. You see NEW. Science does not stay in one place it steps forward. Info can be transfered, the OLD approaches MUST be verified.

Nullius in Verba!

Let us wait, they will publish the results, and I am sure in the same Nature journal.
I always like the obstiancy of German people.

the fact is, one cannot in principle open an 'instantaneous' line of intelligible communication via 'teleportation'. It seems to me that the 'instantaneous transfer of useless information' that is quantum teleportation is simply hype

Ehhhhh. People. Like a pea strikes a marble wall.
I am going to drink cup of tea.

the crux of what I am saying is that it is impossible to use quantum teleportation to set up instantaneous lines of communication across space. The information that is teleported is essentially random as far as both observers are concerned, and thus useless for exchange of meaningful information. Lack of understanding this essential feature of teleportation leads many to assume that superluminal transfer of information is just around the corner via quantum teleportation, which it is not

read 'consequences', paragraph 3 first sentence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_cloning_theorem
also, read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superluminal_communication

basically, if a 'quantum teleportation' system cannot be used to transfer meaningful information then it cannot be used as a means of remote control

what kind of tea are you drinking?

I've got some generic green tea, it's supposed to kick the ass of free radicals and stuff but it tastes like lawn clippings. I wonder if Amsterdam coffeehouses have good green tea....

Our local goblins, trolls and elves travel all over the world and trading guilds of our ugly trolls and goblins like to bring and cell at home every kind of tea they find in all the corners of this planet. Never have been in Amsterdam.

I am sorry I have to go right now. It was very nice to talk with you, indeed.

wow, i think you entirely misunderstood what i said, which i'll assume is my fault for saying it poorly. i meant for my statement to agree with and expand upon your statement that i quoted... so i apoligize for any confusion, and i am sure it is my fault for being a bad writer...

http://www.research.ibm.com/quantuminfo/teleportation/

Re Fairy....

I've alwasys thought of fairies as being of the feminine form (except when used for homosexuals).
I suspect that's why enki sees flowery as feminist - am I right Enki?

But....I've just had a look on the web and found this definition.....

3. An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to
assume a human form (usually diminutive), either male or
female, and to meddle for good or evil in the affairs of
mankind; a fay. See {Elf}, and {Demon}.

However, I don't see flowerfairy as meddling (except for good), nor imaginary (though the name is imagined), nor supernatural, nor a spirit in human form!

I also drink gallons of tea each day!

chance is the best way to f**k with probability while still playing by probabilities rules without cheating

Teleportation Gets Real

The science-fiction fantasy of teleportation became a reality this year, at least on the atomic scale.

Two seperate groups were able to transfer information from one atom to another in a different location using laser pulses.

Although there methods were different, the results were exactly the same: the second atom became completely indistinguishable from the first, just as if information had disappeared from one atom and appeared at the other without travelling through the space in between.

The distances involved are slight - less than 200 micrometers - and the technique works only for information about atoms, not the atoms themselves.

Nevertheless, quantum teleportation is a giant step toward one of physicist's most ambitious goals: building a quantum computer - an ultrafast, super-secure, huge-memory number crunching device that uses atomic particles instead of transistors to retain and process information.

Teleportaion is possible because of the vagaries of quantum mechanics, which allow particles to share information even if they are physically seperated. this phenomenon, known as entanglement, is so odd that Albert Einstein uncomfortably referred to it as "spooky action at a distance."

Entanglement is crucial to a quantum computer because it will allow the device's computational bits to shuttle information back and forth without touching.

Teleportation had previously been demonstrated with particles of light, or photons, but they are too ephemeral and fragile to be useful in data storage.

Beam me up!

Life imitating Art!

These two groups were led by experimental physicists Rainer Blatt of the University of Innsbruck in Austria and by David Wineland of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado.

http://heart-c704.uibk.ac.at/quantumcomputation.html

http://heart-c704.uibk.ac.at/RecentResults...portationE.html

Could binary stars be considered as being in a state of entanglement?

Not quantum entanglement. Gravitational, perhaps, if you want to look at it that way, but "orbit" is the more common term.

Entanglement - the weird quantum property in which on particle instantly knows what has happened to a distant partner particle - appears to be essential for performing steps in a quantum computation. A group from the University of Science and technology of China has entangled five particles, one more than the previous record and the minimum needed for standard error correction.

The researchers first created two entangled photon pairs, sent one photon from each pair through a beam splitter to entangle them, and then sent one of the remaining photons through a beam splitter with a fifth photon, thereby entangling all five photons. The entanglement allowed them to re-create, or 'teleport', the quantum state of one photon among the five to any of three others (using the fourth as an intermediary), instead of to a predetermined one as in previous demonstrations.

Although a quantum computer probably would not run entirely on photons, manipulating them is key for quantum communications.

See the July 1 Nature.

In March, 2003 physicist Roberto Merlin of the University of Michigan and his collegues laid the foundation for a workable quantum computer when they announced that they had entangled three electrons, using a system that couls someday be scaled up to involve many more. Previous engineers had never reliably linked more than two.

although the researchers linked only three electrons, Merlin says they could entangle many more: "In principle, you could come up with a laser that entangles A, B, and C, and then another laser that entangles electrons C and D, and then D, E, and F, and so on. It's like creating a chain. " Merlin believes that such linkages will lead to a quantum computer in just a few years.

could the technology behind quantum computers be applied to anything else?

Maybe in th psychological realm.

http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cf...=3&chanID=sa005

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID...15A809EC5880000

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID...B3B809EC588EEDF

http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cf...tID=3&topicID=5

I'm working on one

I see, like uncle Ben. Good topic of investigation. As always.

Back from the abyss, Enki?

....Uncle Ben....?

Franklin?

...electricity was just a hobby for Ben Franklin...

I'll be publishing a series of papers on the subject; the first one will be submitted sometime in the next few weeks (hopefully). Also, I will probably edit the Wikipedia 'lightning' section on 'how lightning is formed', as it is basically garbage at the moment

Do we get a sneak peak, a little blurb maybe?

sure. Thundercloud electric fields are about 1/10th the dielectric strength of air, meaning that lightning requires some sort of 'boost' to get going. This 'boost' comes in a three-part sequence. The first part is GeV cosmic rays colliding with air molecules, generating a cosmic ray shower full of MeV electrons. The electric field of a thundercloud is strong enough for these MeV electrons to form into a relativistic electron avalanche, generating a beam of cold plasma that polarizes in a few microseconds and locally intensifies the thundercloud electric field near its extremities. In these intensified field regions, the second part of the sequence happens where positive streamers are generated on nearby hydrometeors, growing into intensifying and branching positive streamer systems. A sequence of such systems superimposed onto the same volume 'funnels' negative charge backward toward the system origin, forming a positive-feedback loop of increasing electric-field amplification near the system origin. This small region, of volume on the order of a few cubic meters, reaches electric field strengths on the order of the dielectric strength of air. In such a high-field region, the probability for a streamer event to thermalize a stem of air about a centimeter or so in length becomes large, and when this stem appears it acts like a floating conductor emitting streamers at its extremities. This is the third part of the sequence, where this stem continues to generate streamer activity at both its extremities further heating and extending itself in both directions. Ultimately, this stem gets really big and is called a bipolar 'leader'. This leader system continues to extend so long as the electric field at its extremities is strong enough to support it. In thunderclouds, it can grow many kilometers in length. This leader system is ordinarily called a 'lightning bolt', especially when it is carrying large currents such that it heats tremendously, radiates brightly, and generates a sonic shock wave (thunder)