Quantum teleportation of humans

[starburns]

Recently, scientists have succeeded in performing quantum teleportation on individual atoms (at the University of Maryland). According to Michio Kaku and Anton Zeilinger, we'll be able to do the same to complex molecules, and perhaps even viruses, in a few decades. Could the same thing eventually be done on human beings?

 

Now I know the common response is that there's too much information or that it will take too long. But couldn't there be a shortcut we haven't discovered yet? Some scientific discovery or technological advancement? Couldn't superintelligent AI help get it done?

 

Could someone help quantify what exactly would need to be done? For example, how many seconds would the scan time have to be? How much information, in gigabytes, would have to be stored? How quickly would all the information have to be sent?

[Genecks]

I think teleportation would be possibly, sure. It would just be finding a way to isolate the environment of the subject and transport that isolated environment to another area. It looks like there would have the be an environmental displacement, though, which makes this whole teleportation thing quite interesting (it calls for the law of equal exchange).

Edited April 26, 2010 by Genecks

[swansont]

Please note that quantum teleportation refers to the transmitting of information, i.e. the state of the atom or photon in question. Not matter.

[ydoaPs]

Obligatory xkcd:

[Genecks]

Please note that quantum teleportation refers to the transmitting of information, i.e. the state of the atom or photon in question. Not matter.

 

Then that's not teleportation, in my opinion unless by information you mean "physical properties" kind of like "file properties" but while including the data in the file.

[PaulS1950]

As I understand Quantum teleportation it instantly transfers the characteristics of one particle to another - at any distance, essentially duplicating the first particle.

[bascule]

Then that's not teleportation, in my opinion unless by information you mean "physical properties" kind of like "file properties" but while including the data in the file.

 

It's an identity problem... if you destroy one thing in the course of making an exact duplicate of it elsewhere by transmitting it as information, do the concepts of original and copy actually have any significance, or have you simply moved the object from one place to another in the form of information?

[Genecks]

As I understand Quantum teleportation it instantly transfers the characteristics of one particle to another - at any distance, essentially duplicating the first particle.

 

What about gold?

 

We could scan long distance objects for gold or radioactive materials and teleport carbon in its place. That would rule. I wonder what the energy displacement costs would be. Perhaps a person would have to send an incredible amount of carbon in place of a 1 oz. of radioactive material. Questionable. And could we create a virtual object and then transmit that objects properties to a simple particle, thus forming gold? That would kill the law of conservation of mass.

[insane_alien]

it doesn't instantly transfer anything. it takes time to travel.

 

as to genecks, how do you supoose we scan for gold? also, you can't transport substances, you'd need another gold atom to put the information into once it got here.

[swansont]

Then that's not teleportation, in my opinion unless by information you mean "physical properties" kind of like "file properties" but while including the data in the file.

 

It's a poor choice of terminology. The reason that it's significant is that classically, you'd be right only half the time if you measured the spin of an object and made another object have that spin. With quantum teleportation, the fidelity is not limited — in principle you can do this with 100% efficiency.

[starburns]

Ignoring the identity question, what's to stop us from scaling up the process of teleporting single atoms to the point where we can teleport entire humans? I've heard Michio Kaku and Anton Zeilinger say we'll soon be quantum teleporting viruses and complex molecules. So won't we eventually be doing the same with humans?

[PaulS1950]

I am unaware of any telepotation of atoms.

I thought the only teleportation was the attributes of sub-atomic particles.

[starburns]

I am unaware of any telepotation of atoms.

I thought the only teleportation was the attributes of sub-atomic particles.

 

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090122/full/news.2009.50.html

[PaulS1950]

Here is a quote from the article cited:

 

"What you're moving is information, not the actual atoms," says Chris Monroe, from the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland in College Park and an author of the paper. But as two particles of the same type differ only in their quantum states, the transfer of quantum information is equivalent to moving the first particle to the location of the second.

They aren't teleporting atoms - just the information about the ion, from one to another.

[Farsight]

Recently, scientists have succeeded in performing quantum teleportation on individual atoms (at the University of Maryland). According to Michio Kaku and Anton Zeilinger, we'll be able to do the same to complex molecules, and perhaps even viruses, in a few decades. Could the same thing eventually be done on human beings?

No. It's all pseudoscience hype. Sorry.

[FooFiFum]

TRIAL LAWYERS AND TELEPORTATION - Whatever teleportation possibilities might be, don't EVER do this at home!

 

1) The 'you' that is the result of teleportation will not know it, but he is a copy and you are dead. The death cirtificate should read "Death by sub-atomic dissasembly".

 

2) However, a lawyer defending the person charged with your murder will call the copy as a wittness for the defense.

 

3) But your heirs could sue in Probate Court in accordance with your last will and testimony, and, perhaps, to recover your remains as well. In the form of the copy who is protesting all the while he is you and you are not dead.

[starburns]

Here is a quote from the article cited:

 

 

They aren't teleporting atoms - just the information about the ion, from one to another.

 

Right, but from a quantum mechanical point of view, teleporting information is the same as teleporting the actual atom, since the quantum state is the only thing that really defines the atom, right?

 

In addition, it's not as if quantum mechanics doesn't apply to the real world. For example, just recently, scientists at UCSB were able to observe quantum mechanical behavior in a trillion-atom mechanical resonator. (http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100317/full/news.2010.130.html) This proves that even macroscopic objects obey quantum mechanical laws, right? If so, doesn't that mean that quantum teleportation can be used on macroscopic objects?

[swansont]

No. It's all pseudoscience hype. Sorry.

 

All of it? As in, quantum teleportation itself?

[starburns]

Any more feedbac?

[ydoaPs]

TRIAL LAWYERS AND TELEPORTATION - Whatever teleportation possibilities might be, don't EVER do this at home!

 

1) The 'you' that is the result of teleportation will not know it, but he is a copy and you are dead. The death cirtificate should read "Death by sub-atomic dissasembly".

 

2) However, a lawyer defending the person charged with your murder will call the copy as a wittness for the defense.

 

3) But your heirs could sue in Probate Court in accordance with your last will and testimony, and, perhaps, to recover your remains as well. In the form of the copy who is protesting all the while he is you and you are not dead.

Every few years, all the cells in your body have been changed out. Does that mean you have been replaced?

[seouldavid]

Recently, scientists have succeeded in performing quantum teleportation on individual atoms (at the University of Maryland). According to Michio Kaku and Anton Zeilinger, we'll be able to do the same to complex molecules, and perhaps even viruses, in a few decades. Could the same thing eventually be done on human beings?

 

Yes, I watched the documentary - Visions of the Future presented by Prof. Michio Kaku. In the third episode The Quantum Revolution includes the story about teleportation. There Dr. Anton Zeilinger told he succeeded in performing teleportation. Okay, now teleportation is possible. However, as you are asking, how about teleportating a human body? I think teleportating a human body is possible if the human body is a simple collection of atoms. However, I have a question about whether a human body can be broken down into atoms without any losses.

[∫ ™]

What happens in the quantum world stays in the quantum world. Quantum mechanics cannot be applied to the "macro" world. Therefore phenomenons like quantum teleportation and quantum entanglement cannot exist elsewhere.