Quantum Physicists teleport photon over 15 miles

Professor Nicolas Gisin and his team have successfully teleported a photon over 15 miles in its quantum state.

The Swiss team of scientists aimed to transport the photon into a crystal without the two touching, and they did just that.

Nicolas Gisin

The same team were able to accomplish this in 2003, but they were only able to teleport the light a little less than four miles.

The reporting of the accomplishment can be found in the latest issue of Nature Photonics.

In May of 2012, a team of scientists was able to teleport a photon between two Canary islands, at a distance of roughly 88 miles.

In both situations optical fibre was used to carry the light particle.

"The next step is satellite-based quantum teleportation, which should enable quantum communication on a global scale."

"We have now taken a major step in this direction and will use our know-how in an international cooperation, which involves our colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

Anton Zeilinger

"The goal is to launch a 'quantum satellite mission'," physicist Anton Zeilinger said at the time. Dr. Anton Zeilinger is Prof of Physics at Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Vienna.

Forbes claims a satellite-based quantum teleportation could result in highly advanced quantum internet devices.

More Information:
"Quantum teleportation from a telecom-wavelength photon to a solid-state quantum memory" Félix Bussières, Christoph Clausen, Alexey Tiranov, Boris Korzh, Varun B. Verma, Sae Woo Nam, Francesco Marsili, Alban Ferrier, Philippe Goldner, Harald Herrmann, Christine Silberhorn, Wolfgang Sohler, Mikael Afzelius & Nicolas Gisin author Nature Photonics (2014) doi:10.1038/nphoton.2014.215

Scientists concerned over the future of satellite-based research

Landsat 8 captured fine details of the lava flowing in Iceland between the Bardarbunga and Askja volcanoes.

Credit: NASA, NOAA.

The U.S. has more than 30 civilian, Earth-observing satellites circling the planet, providing scientists with a torrent of crucial environmental and climate information.

More satellites are on deck to launch in the next few years, but, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society, scientists have registered serious concerns over the lack of a long-term, cohesive vision for the scientific missions.

Jyllian Kemsley, a senior editor at C&EN, reports that satellites are marvels of technology.

From their orbits up to thousands of miles above the planet's surface, they collect Earthly measurements and beam down to scientists information they can't get any other way.

The satellites map cloud cover; they track snow and ice cover; they measure atmospheric carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas; they detect chemical reactions in the atmosphere; they help meteorologists make weather predictions.

Future launches will undoubtedly add to the treasure trove of scientific data.

But some scientists say that despite the state-of-the-art sensors the satellites are equipped with, a short-sighted vision for the future, may cause the resulting science to suffer.

They say that the division between two agencies leading the way, NASA, which operates under a "first and best" vision, and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which takes the longer view, has created a "valley of death."

This gap hinders the use of NASA's research instruments for NOAA's desired sustained monitoring, which is critical to understanding complex systems of atmospheric chemistry and climate.

More information: Observing Earth - cen.acs.org/articles/92/i36/Observing-Earth.html