Sending Encrypted Message Using "Spooky" Photons.

Posted by Alex in Science & Tech on December 10, 2006 at 12:41 pm


Anton Zeilinger from the University of Vienna and an international team of scientists have managed to send an encrypted message instantaneously across 140 km between two Spanish islands using quantum physics:

The photons they sent were linked together through a process known as quantum entanglement.

This means that their properties remained tightly entwined or entangled, even when separated by large distances, a property Einstein called spooky.

The group’s achievement is important for the emerging field of quantum cryptography, which aims to use properties such as entanglement to send encrypted messages.

Link

Y’know, this means that Jacques Toussaint Benoit got the right idea in the late 1800s. If he only used photons instead of snails …


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COMMENT

6 comments to "Sending Encrypted Message Using "Spooky" Photons."

  1. pld
    December 10th, 2006 at 7:48 pm

    Is this for real? Sounds like a hoax; but if it's true then it means that instantaneous communication is possible - think interplanetary web and such.

  2. AJ
    December 10th, 2006 at 8:43 pm

    It's definitely for real pld. This guy was a plenary speaker at a the AIP (aus. institute of physics) congress in Brisbane, Australia about a week ago. He mentioned that if they can get the effect working over a slightly longer distance (maybe 200km) they'll be able to comunicate with satelites.

  3. Bryan
    December 11th, 2006 at 1:03 pm

    Hmm, maybe this means I'll be able to get better latency on my satellite broadband connection.

  4. pld
    December 11th, 2006 at 2:37 pm

    yup, zero ping sounds nice

  5. Sam
    December 11th, 2006 at 6:44 pm

    ansible anyone?

    I guess that wikipedia page needs updating.

  6. Marc Forrester
    December 11th, 2006 at 10:52 pm

    This is being massively misinterpreted, there's no instantaneous communication going on here, just plain old lightspeed lasers. Anton and his team are working on quantum cryptography. Quantum entangled communication lasers that should be immune to eavesdropping, as it is theoretically impossible to intercept the beam without breaking the entanglement.


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