Chinese scientists ‘teleport’ photon from Earth to space

Chinese scientists working with the Micius satellite that China launched last summer have reported that they can teleport a photon into space using quantum mechanics.

While it doesn’t work quite like the teleportation depicted in Star Trek, the research published in MIT Technology Review is a big step forward for how information can be transmitted, potentially affecting future data encryption. The process of “teleporting” a photon, or an elementary particle, from one location to another has been successfully done on Earth, but the researchers say they are the first to send a photon from Earth to space.

The scientists were able to transmit information about the first photon to space where a second photon was waiting; the second photon took on the identity of the first, essentially taking the first photon to space. “To all intents and purposes, it becomes the first photon,” the researchers explained.

On Thursday’s “The Glenn Beck Radio Program,” Glenn Beck couldn’t believe that China is so far ahead of the U.S. The Chinese team that sent the photon into space was working at a ground station in Tibet.

“This is where this scientific breakthrough happened,” Glenn said incredulously. “America, wake up!”

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