Quantum Teleportation Could Revolutionize Modern Phone And Internet Communication

A study of quantum teleportation, a phenomenon in quantum physics, could transform the Internet and modern telephone communication. This could lead to highly secure and encrypted messaging.

The study was printed in Nature Photonics. It was authored by engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and the researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado. The researchers have attained quantum teleportation over long distances, sending the quantum state of photon across over 3.7 miles in an actual metropolitan network.

The experiments were demonstrated in the city of Calgary in Canada. The team used "dark" (unused) cables under the city of Calgary. It is actually a new record for the longest distance of quantum teleportation in a metropolitan network, according to NASA.

The quantum teleportation could make for ultra-secure encrypted messaging someday. This permits the senders to send "disembodied" information to the recipient that would be impossible for anyone to intercept. Quantum teleportation is done by means of entanglement. This is an incident in which two particles remain bound across a large distance. One affects the state of one particle to another, even they are located at farther distances.

Quantum teleportation demo'd for first time in a city's network; may revolutionize phone + Internet communication https://t.co/KwQHcMr4FE pic.twitter.com/1ZSbUYcaRJ

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) October 13, 2016

Francesco Marsili, one of the JPL co-authors, explained that demonstrating quantum effects such as teleportation outside of a lab environment include a whole new set of challenges. He further explained that this experiment suggests how these challenges can all be overcome and hence it marks a significant milestone towards the future quantum Internet. He added that quantum communication exposes some of the unique properties of quantum mechanics. This includes exchanging information with ultimate security or link together quantum computers, as noted by Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, Matt Shaw of JPL's Micro Devices Laboratory said by using advanced superconducting detectors, they can utilize each photon to efficiently communicate the classical and quantum information from space to the ground. He further said that they are planning to use more advanced versions of these detectors for demonstrations of optical communication from space and of quantum teleportation from the International Space Station (ISS).