QuantumNetwork
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China bounced an 'unhackable' quantum signal between cities
The field of quantum cryptography, which seeks to transmit encrypted information using entangled quantum particles like photons, could help lay the groundwork for tomorrow's quantum networks but it faces a significant physical hurdle: entangled photons are crazy hard to transmit long distances. Even in fiber optic cables, they can only go about 150 miles before completely degrading. But a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences may have the solution. You just have to send the photons 745 miles into space.
Scientists create the first universal quantum network, are scared to restart the router
We all know that most networks are, well, just not "quantumy" enough. Good news, then, that German boffins at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have created the first "universal quantum network." We've been hearing about plain old quantum computing since the first qubit was sent, but now we have to get our tiny minds around the idea of a quantum internet too. Data was sent using single rubidium atoms in reflective optical cavities and single photons emitted over optical fiber. Given that data was only successfully transmitted 0.2% of the time, and the network spanned just 21 meters, a complex LAN with multiple nodes is a way off just yet, but the proof of concept is there. If that concept is the early '90s internet that is.
Caltech research could lead to quantum hard drives, networks, parallel universes
Quantum anything has typically fallen into our oft-used category of 'awesome things that'll never happen,' but if a crew of researchers at the California Institute of Technology have anything to say about it, they'll soon be changing the fortunes of that segment. The team has recently demonstrated quantum entanglement for a quantum state stored in four spatially distinct atomic memories, and while that probably just blew your mind a little bit, the breakdown is fairly interesting. Essentially, they've uncovered a quantum interface between the atomic memories, which is said to "represent something akin to a computer hard drive for entanglement." If extended, it could pave the way toward quantum networks, and in turn, massive webs of quantum computers. We're obviously decades out from understanding what this all means for the common computer user, but just remember this: "for an entangled quantum system, there exists no objective physical reality for the system's properties." And you thought The Matrix was deep.
