Australian physicists develop teleportation scheme for atoms

Although the idea of teleporting individuals from one place to another in order to sidestep the headache of rush hour traffic has been around for quite some time, a team of Australian physicists are busy making it work (on a smaller scale, of course). Granted, they don't fully expect their teleportation scheme to be used on humans in the near future, but there's always hope, right? Anyway, the team has developed a so-called "simple way to transport atoms," which involves bringing the atoms to almost absolute zero, beaming them with two lasers, and using fiber optics to transport them to any other place at the speed of light where they "enter a second condensate" and reconstruct. We'll keep you posted on when human trialing (hopefully) begins.

[Generic @ Jul 11th 2007 5:02AM]

Well the available information is weird. Atoms passing through fiber optics while at near zero Kelvin?! Not that I'm negating the result, but last time I checked super cooled atoms heat up when passing through uncontrolled environments (fiber optic cables as the articel explains).

[Dave @ Jul 11th 2007 9:31AM]

I think it's the data necessary to reconstruct the atoms that's passing through fiber optics.

[logyk @ Jul 11th 2007 5:02AM]

Beam me up Auzi

[MizuInOz @ Jul 11th 2007 8:06AM]

It's Aussie...

Teams here in Australia have been workign on this and other concepts for about ten years... and they continue to get funding!!! Can't be all bad!
Transmigration of atomic information is not teleportation but it is (as Bill Murry would say) - "Baby Steps"

When someone first built a roller log transport to mov rocks or dead animals, I am sure there were a few skeptics. :)
Cheers, Mate from the land of the highest beer consumption per capita in the world!!! Huurp!

[Marek @ Jul 11th 2007 12:50PM]

Sorry, dude...but I must correct this slight to the Czech people. They Czechs, in fact, have the highest beer consumption per capita. Australia is a close 4th. Actually, it's not close, not at all. Austria is 5th, and could overtake Australia any day now. Keep drinking, don't wanna lose, do ya?

Oh yeah - Fiber optics: sweet!

[Deluxe @ Jul 11th 2007 5:34AM]

Does the concept of being de-materialised and put back together atom-by-atom not disturb anyone else 0_0?

[Cpt.Scarecrow @ Jul 11th 2007 5:51AM]

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
You know how in movies they always get a hand up their arse or something when it goes wrong, but with a gazillion atoms in your body something has to go wrong at one point adn you probably won't notice it on the exterior, but it can cause major health problems...

Don't beam me up yet Scotty ;)

[Brad @ Jul 11th 2007 5:54AM]

I would have thought the idea of being snap frozen to near absolute zero to be more daunting!

[Eric @ Jul 11th 2007 12:10PM]

Absolutely it would bother me. I would never allow myself to be teleported.

Think about it. You have an original version of the Constitution. Canon says "we have the best copier in the world, it will make a perfect copy of your documents."

So, do you make a copy of the Constitution to see if it works, then burn the original and figure the copy is worth the same? NO!

So why would you want to be dematerialized, and let some copy of yourself live out the rest of your life? Well, at least until it's dematerialized and then some OTHER copy lives out the rest of its life, ad infinitum.

It's just insane to think of doing it even if it were possible. Which it never will be. The amount of power to deconstruct every atom in your body (ignoring there's no such thing as a Heisenberg compensator, nor is one ever likely to be possible), move the energy resulting from that, and then to re-compress all that energy into atoms and then reconstruct ever atom as is was before.

[darkman @ Jul 12th 2007 4:30AM]

I really, really hope, that when they do have the technlogy to dis-assemble a human, atom by atom and then re-assemble them, I really hope they will not be using Windows as the OS for the software needed.

My stain on the Innernet!
http://darkman.is-a-geek.net

[ryanwalklin @ Jul 11th 2007 5:45AM]

I would imagine it is the atom's state that is being beamed, rather than the atoms themselves, given that matter can't travel at the speed of light. The freezing to absolute zero would reduce the quantum uncertainty.

[Russ @ Jul 11th 2007 5:51AM]

when they perfect star-trek style transporting: it'd be a nice feature to 'leave behind' any alcohol molecules.. would come in handy for the trip home on a friday night.

[sitheris @ Jul 11th 2007 9:40AM]

But with teleportation, drinking and driving is no longer an issue....or is it? Hmmm...

[Jeff @ Jul 11th 2007 10:23AM]

Rather than just leaving behind the booze, how about programming it to leave behind cancer cells?

[Russ @ Jul 11th 2007 5:37PM]

@sitheris - hangovers will still be an issue! plus the alcohol could be recycled! :)

[gadjitfreek @ Jul 11th 2007 6:37AM]

The quantity of energy it would take to convey the sum total of information about each atom's state in the human body has been theorized to be more than exists in the universe. This is somewhat of a stumbling block. And just conveying each atom's state information may not be enough...the states that exist between molecules and ions would have to be accounted for as well.

I am not a religious person, but here's a point to ponder...does the insubstantial soul get transported as well? Do the photons transmit its information as well? Or does that get left behind, stripped bare by the process? Or, if you prefer, instead of soul, thought and consciousness?

Weird stuff, no doubt.

[Gil @ Jul 11th 2007 6:57AM]

"quantity of energy it would take to convey the sum total of information" What does that even mean?

Quantity of energy required to scan a human?
Quantity of energy required to deconstruct a human?
Quantity of energy required to reconstruct a human?

"quantity of energy it takes to convey information" is technobabble.

[gadjitfreek @ Jul 11th 2007 7:27AM]

""quantity of energy it would take to convey the sum total of information" What does that even mean?

Quantity of energy required to scan a human?
Quantity of energy required to deconstruct a human?
Quantity of energy required to reconstruct a human?

"quantity of energy it takes to convey information" is technobabble."

Quantity of energy it takes to do all of the above. And it is not techno"babble". It is a quantum mechanical fact. By "information", I mean the complete quantum-mechanical states of all particles, both atomic and subatomic, as well as the interactions between atoms.

[Chuckles McGee @ Jul 11th 2007 9:19AM]

You aren't a religious person but you want to know whether or not the soul gets transported? I guess you could be a spiritual person then. Where along your line of reasoning did you come to the conclusion that our behavior and thoughts which we've defined as souls cannot be explained by the firings of neurons and other actions of your nervous system? You had better go call up those Australians and warn them of the dangers of creating souless transportees.

Ok, I'll stop. This is a tech blog, not a religious one.

[gadjitfreek @ Jul 11th 2007 1:57PM]

Oh, I agree, Chuckles. I'm not even a spiritual person...but I like to see the religious types squirm when posed with questions like that! :)

[Uejji @ Jul 11th 2007 9:53AM]

What? I don't believe I saw any squirming. Don't pat yourself on the back and think you're so clever.

[Frank @ Jul 11th 2007 11:05AM]

If we can imagine it, then it's possible. By the way, the soul is just energy. My soul=100101001001010100101010010100000100

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Jul 11th 2007 12:20PM]

Frank, I think your soul might be closer to:
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

That said, I'm a "religious type," but you wouldn't see me squirm. In fact, I always welcome it when folks point out the mind-boggling amount of *information* contained in a human being. This information is what makes us unique and alive, too -- yes, alive. You can't just analyze a human body, figure out how much of this or that it contains, and then put those things together. The way matter is arranged, works together, even the temperature, charge, etc of various molecules has a significant effect on the function.

When was the last time you threw together a few grams of silicone, copper, gold, tin, ceramic, aluminum, plastic, etc, shock it and out came a functioning motherboard? And even if that were possible, what are the odds of the BIOS chip to be programmed so it would boot? It's the same with the human being -- the individual pieces need to be put together just right, using the proper process, timing, arrangement, etc. And once that's done, you need the "firmware" -- your reflexes and conscious thought.

The difference is that a human body is infinitely more complex than your average PC, so the one putting that together ought to be infinitely smarter than your Computer Engineer.

To me, it takes a lot less faith to believe in a benevolent Creator, than in a chaotic, random and unguided series of coincidences, resulting in a functioning human being. But people don't like that, because if they're more than merely the product of chance, then they might have to find themselves accountable for the purpose they're applying themselves to. Think about it.

[forkicks @ Jul 13th 2007 5:56AM]

"When was the last time you threw together a few grams of silicone, copper, gold, tin, ceramic, aluminum, plastic, etc, shock it and out came a functioning motherboard? And even if that were possible, what are the odds of the BIOS chip to be programmed so it would boot? It's the same with the human being -- the individual pieces need to be put together just right, using the proper process, timing, arrangement, etc. And once that's done, you need the "firmware" -- your reflexes and conscious thought."

When was the last time you shook your brain and a good idea came out?
I sincerely hope science evolves enough to just prove you wrong during your lifetime.

This is the classic example of the self-centered view human race has of itself.
First was the sun revolving around us, then our sun certainly *had* to be the center of the galaxy, let alone the universe, and after everything is debunked by science, we *still* have to be special at something.... get over it. We are simply an arrangement of atoms, whatever way you look at it, and we are no more special than any other arrangement of atoms. Ours enables us to think, create art, do war, get rich, die poor, invent, whatever, but its STILL an arrangement of atoms! And if there is that *special something* you do say, damn, mine is just to stoopid :) and i do want be teleported and get a new one.

[gadjitfreek @ Jul 13th 2007 6:11AM]

I would love to have a personal teleportation device too...would make commuting and storm-chasing a whole lot easier...but would really put a dent in iPod and satellite radio sales! GPS would flourish, because you'd need to know precisely where you were being reassembled. The problem is one of E=mc2. To convert your mass to energy takes more energy that the human race has ever produced...then there's the problem of sending the information and the energy to a remote location to be reassembled. The total amount of information needed to reassemble your body would fill more computers than have ever existed. Maybe someday in the distant future we will succeed, though I think we will have far more success in breaking the light speed barrier first.

And this information is there in every material. Your motherboard analogy was not incorrect...but the amount of information in a living organism is even more complex. You could create a complete genetic duplicate of a being (cloning), but it would not have the same memories and experiences as the original. You could recreate the atomic patterns precisely, but the energy that goes into all bodily functions...we are still not entirely sure how the brain works. Remember, you are beaming energy (and I am not talking about a soul, though if you choose to believe in one, then that's your business), and that has to be accounted for.

[Gil @ Jul 11th 2007 6:58AM]

I'm thinking this is the first step towards replicators. Yeah it's frozen stuff but still good.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 11th 2007 7:19AM]

You there! Turn out your pockets!

Just as I suspected, -Atoms!

[Mike @ Jul 11th 2007 8:12AM]

HAHA way to drop the Simpsons reference

[robotpants @ Jul 11th 2007 8:53AM]

Has anyone here seen star trek movie one? Do you really want that to happen to you because a teleporter "technician" screwed up? I would prefer tube technology over my atoms being taken from one spot and being reassembled in another. If you think that is kewl check out the movie The Prestige sometime and then let me know what you think.

[Mike Teavee @ Jul 11th 2007 9:52AM]

You don't understand anything about science! First off, there's a difference between waves and particles! DUH! Second, the amount of power it would take to convert energy into matter would be like nine atomic bombs!

[Fake Name @ Jul 12th 2007 9:23AM]

@mike

Well Mike, if you knew anything about science and quantum mechanics you would know that particles and waves are actually a quantum superposition. They only become a 'particle' or a 'wave' when humans attempt to measure it - thus destroying the superposition.

[illicit @ Jul 11th 2007 9:50AM]

Everyone keeps saying that teleportation would be really dangerous,
but I guess they forget just how dangerous driving a car at 70 mph
is and how many people die in car crashes not to mention planes,
trains, boats. I don't think they would release technology like that
if it weren't at least as safe as conventional forms of travel. So calm
down, its not like anyone's going to force you to test it.

[Fitz @ Jul 11th 2007 10:20AM]

Has everyone missed the obvious connection here??? I must really be getting old..

"Greetings. The Master Control Program has chosen you to serve your system on the Game Grid. Those of you who continue to profess a belief in the Users will receive the standard substandard training, which will result in your eventual elimination. Those of you who renounce this superstitious and hysterical belief will be eligible to join the warrior elite of the MCP. You will each receive an identity disk. Everything you do or learn will be imprinted on this disk. If you lose your disk or fail to obey commands, you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. That will be all."

[SigmaProjects.org @ Jul 11th 2007 12:17PM]

I may be understanding this wrong, but... Doesn't anyone else see or feel something wrong with the idea of taking an atom out of a place in existence and moving it to another?

[Xenoterranos @ Jul 11th 2007 10:33AM]

I guess they won't need planet express to deliver that Jumbonium after all, eh?

[Travis (stupid blog free) @ Jul 11th 2007 11:02AM]

Time to start a new career. Learjets will soon gather dust, and I'll be out of work. Somehow I knew the Aussies would ultimately be responsible for my downfall. I blame Steven Pam. This time next year, I'll be working in India for Dell. Between calls I'll sing 'A Pirate Looks at 40.'

[bradwjensen @ Jul 11th 2007 11:11AM]

There are going to be huge security matters going on when people can just teleport to where they feel fit. lol.. It makes me think of the internet and peoples privacy these days, but this time people can just go wherever in person.. How could they lock you out of a real place like they can lock you out of a website? File sharing will be done secretly then, you could just fill your hard drive/iPod with music and teleport to a friends house with it without anyone knowing then load all your music up and teleport back. :-P It'd take less time than driving and it would be anonymous. like you could teleport to a neighbors house when their sleeping and eat all their food.

[Eric @ Jul 11th 2007 12:19PM]

Oh my gosh! I never even considered the spamming possibilities for teleportation.

Hormel could actually teleport Spam into your refrigerator!

Now is the time to legislate against teleportation!

[amatlis @ Jul 11th 2007 12:50PM]

I think a lot of people are worried about the philosophical/religious danger of making copies of ourselves (i.e. what happens to our soul, etc). Eric posted (above) an interesting point that we would never make a copy of the US Constitution and then burn the original no matter how good the copy is. But, I think many of you are missing an important point. The US constitution is important in it's original form because it is old and aged. All the original atoms are there and have sentimental value. The body, on the other hand, replaces all its cells every seven years (there is some argument about the finer details, but essentially our body replaces its cells over and over again). So, in reality, we are all copies of copies of ourselves. It's not the atoms themselves that are important, but the precise construction and aligment of them as a whole. The human body does a fantastic job of this copying process, but it's not perfect, and, over time, bits of our genetic code drop off. This is called aging. The copy of the copy is not as good as the original. The only serious difference between teleportation and cell division is that teleportation happens all at once (and would hopefully be perfect), while the body's self copying happens at different rates and times depending on the particular cell family. Of course, teleportation is only transferring the quantum states of atoms (i.e. their information) to other atoms, but that is essentially what the body does when it makes copies. It just does it in a slower, more klunky way.

Now, the really disturbing question to me is what happens when you teleport your body but don't destroy the original (it's not necessary afterall, is it)? Then you have two copies of yourself, each of which will be completely and equally convinced that it is the original (because the exact mental state will be copied). And, in essence, they are both just as original because it's the atomic organization that matters, not the uniqueness of the atoms. For most of us, we would really not want two of us walking around (it's just too disturbing). But then the thought of killing the other copy is equally disturbing becuase both copies are equally you with the same feelings and emotions. You would be killing yourself and which one is yourself anyway? This is what disturbs me and keeps me awake at night... Ok, it doesn't keep me awake at night. But it disturbs me....

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Jul 11th 2007 1:07PM]

"The body, on the other hand, replaces all its cells every seven years (there is some argument about the finer details, but essentially our body replaces its cells over and over again)"

Would you care to provide a reference? I couldn't find one, but I seem to remember that cell-renewal is absent in the most important parts of the human body, specifically in the central nervous system.

"The human body does a fantastic job of this copying process, but it's not perfect, and, over time, bits of our genetic code drop off. This is called aging."

That is not true either. When a cell is copied incorrectly, it's generally a medical problem; when a cell's genetic code gets changed, that's a mutation and usually leads to thinks like cancer. "Aging" then is really that -- not all cells are renewed and they do get older and worn out. It is, incidentally, controlled by various genes as recent research has shown. The body is designed to expire, just like an iPhone's battery.

[Marek @ Jul 11th 2007 1:28PM]

Bits of our genetic code DO drop off over time. The end of each DNA strand contains long, nonsensical codes that do not (to our knowledge) code for anything. They exist simply because each time that DNA is replicated, a little bit of the end is omitted (the End Replication Problem), and is therefore not carried over to the next DNA replication. Over time, these strands, called telomeres, get shorter and shorter with each successive DNA replication - until they run out completely. Once they run out, you begin to see problems associated with ageing, because without telomeres, each DNA replication cuts off more necessary genetic code from the DNA. Telomere length is variable between individuals, and can in fact determine the maximum effective age of an individual (if you cut off too much genetic information after you run out of telomeres, your DNA becomes somewhat useless and you die). Wikipedia probably has something half-right about telomeres or maybe the end replication problem...

[amatlis @ Jul 11th 2007 1:48PM]

Thank you Marek, you beat me to the punch. Sadly, it has been too long since my biology classes in college and this old brain has difficulty retrieving old information quickly (no doubt due to the shortening of my tolemeres). Here is a quick reference I found on the links between tolomeres, aging, and cancer: http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/features/telomeres/

As for, renewal of the central nervous system, LikesGadgetsWillTravel you are correct. It has long been thought that neurons were never replaced and thus the age simply decayed with time as neurons died. However, new research seems to be questioning this. It appears even neurons may be replaced throughout our lives. See: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19096030/ (It discusses both replacing neurons and reviving old neurons). Also see the scientific article title "Brain repair by replacement and regeneration" http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=164602

As for the cells replacing every 7 years. I actually stopped to look it up for writing my post because I vaguely remembered it but couldn't find a hard reference. The reason is because 7 is sort of a random number. True replacement happens much faster than this, but people choose 7 because by then most cells have been replaced many times over. See http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=6684 and http://www.hhmi.org/cgi-bin/askascientist/highlight.pl?kw=&file=answers%2Fgeneral%2Fans_025.html

[capagotks @ Jul 15th 2007 3:30AM]

the only practical application of teleporting is mail delivery.

think about it, if it reconstructs what has been sent, wont our memory be destroyed? the original will cease to exist, so id rather not go into a teleporter, and have a copy of me doing the things i would enjoy..

[ItIsMe @ Jul 12th 2007 1:54AM]

I don't think much people realise that 'teleportation', at least this method and most others which require atominizing a person, would actually kill said person. The person who enters such a machine or has the process aplied to them will be obliterated and a new person will be generated somewhere else. Granted if it works perfectely the new person would have all the memories and emotions of the old obliterated person and, as such, they will believe themself to be the original. The problem isn't with the end result however but how they reach it; no-one in their right mind would have this done to themself as it would essentially be THEIR last moment in existence, for all intents and purposes they would be killing themself.

[Ben @ Jul 12th 2007 2:42AM]

That seems to be the situation, however, all cells in the body are replaced over a period of seven years (obviously not all at once, but you get the point. None of the cells in your body existed 7 years ago). So one could use the same logic to say we are constantly dying and being remade. Obviously there is some force the binds our consciousness that we have yet to understand

[lspeed1 @ Jul 12th 2007 5:05AM]

I agree with the comments here. The history of teleportation, if we suspend reality and pretend it is possible, is not very encouraging. I recall that one of the Star Trek movies began with the loss of a science officer through teleportation malfunction (I believe it was a problem with a "filter"). When the person was to be re-materialized, something went wrong. He appeared briefly on the receiving pad, malformed, but was soon lost as his "atoms" were sprayed all over space etc. He screamed when that happened. It was not pretty...

I am afraid that, given the complexity of the process, the statistical possibilities for error, the application of Murphy's Law, etc., this process would never pass the FDA's testing (or which-ever government body would be responsible for testing it...). It would also be interesting to see the "Warranty" on the device, or perhaps, if it was made by Microsoft, the pile of disclaimers would be so huge, you could probably use it as a bridge and walk to your destination, and forget about the process altogether...

[Mischa Lockton @ Jul 12th 2007 2:32AM]

I don't wanna end up like BrundleFly! Count me the efff out of this one.

[lspeed1 @ Jul 12th 2007 5:04AM]

I recall some philosophy, reasoning and logic classes I took W-A-A-A-A-y-y-y back when I was in university..... we had a good time with concepts which could be quite handily described in as much detail as was desired, yet, they were absolute nonsense when placed in the "real world". It is easy to say "draw me a perfectly round square", and there is nothing wrong with the words, sentence structure, etc. It just can't be done within the laws which govern such things.

I believe this subject fits the same mold. It is "fun" to discuss concepts such as transportation of living beings, and to include it in fictional stories for our enjoyment. However, the concepts which the words describe are self-contradictory in the real world, just the above example is. It may take much more work to bring that out in something as "subtle" as transportation, but sooner or later, it will happen.

Lastly, what IS the definition of transportation? The description which I see in effect here seems to focus on transporting the matter and its proper positioning with respect to all the rest of the matter in the subject. What happens when you try to include the electrical signals within the subject? Magnetic fields? Electric Fields? Momentum and inertia which exist at the time the person is "copied" or "disassembled"? etc.

[mandoline @ Jul 12th 2007 5:37AM]

well if they ever did get human teleportation up and running, I guarantee that the molecular distortions, temperature/thermal stress etc would be so severe that the unfortunate teleportee would suffer intense pain, possibly even unconsiousness for an hour or so.

That said, if the subject was already unconscious it probably wouldn't cause as many problems. Might be ideal for A&E use (carry transmitter in ambulance, to save vital minutes normally wasted in conventional transport)

-A

[TS @ Jul 12th 2007 10:24AM]

This article sucks. Not only do they not mention exactly WHICH australian scientists, they don't link to anything published by said scientists and they don't even explain the procedure properly or what this will mean in practical terms for the near future.
Also there is no caption for the photo.
Anybody and his brother can concoct a story like this and publish it. I say its all bollocks, until they put references...