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Physicists propose the first scheme to teleport the memory of an organism
Phys.org ^ | January 14, 2016

Posted on 01/15/2016 3:07:48 PM PST by presidio9

In "Star Trek," a transporter can teleport a person from one location to a remote location without actually making the journey along the way. Such a transporter has fascinated many people. Quantum teleportation shares several features of the transporter and is one of the most important protocols in quantum information. In a recent study, Prof. Tongcang Li at Purdue University and Dr. Zhang-qi Yin at Tsinghua University proposed the first scheme to use electromechanical oscillators and superconducting circuits to teleport the internal quantum state (memory) and center-of-mass motion state of a microorganism. They also proposed a scheme to create a Schrodinger's cat state in which a microorganism can be in two places at the same time. This is an important step toward potentially teleporting an organism in future.

In 1935, Erwin Schrodinger proposed a famous thought experiment to prepare a cat in a superposition of both alive and dead states. The possibility of an organism to be in a superposition state dramatically reveals the profound consequences of quantum mechanics, and has attracted broad interests. Physicists have made great efforts over many decades to investigate macroscopic quantum phenomena. To date, matter-wave interference of electrons, atoms, and molecules (such as C60) have been observed. Recently, quantum ground state cooling and the creation of superposition states of mechanical oscillators have been realized. For example, a group in Colorado, U.S. has cooled the vibration of a 15-micrometer-diameter aluminum membrane to quantum ground state, and entangled its motion with microwave photons. However, the quantum superposition of an entire organism has not been realized. Meanwhile, there have been many breakthroughs in quantum teleportation since its first experimental realization in 1997 with a single photon. Besides photons, quantum teleportation with atoms, ions, and superconducting circuits have been demonstrated. In 2015, a group at University of Science and Technology of China demonstrated the quantum teleportation of multiple degrees of freedom of a single photon. However, existing experiments are still far away from teleporting an organism or the state of an organism.

In a recent study, Tongcang Li and Zhang-qi Yin propose to put a bacterium on top of an electromechanical membrane oscillator integrated with a superconducting circuit to prepare the quantum superposition state of a microorganism and teleport its quantum state. A microorganism with a mass much smaller than the mass of the electromechanical membrane will not significantly affect the quality factor of the membrane and can be cooled to the quantum ground state together with the membrane. Quantum superposition and teleportation of its center-of-mass motion state can be realized with the help of superconducting microwave circuits. With a strong magnetic field gradient, the internal states of a microorganism, such as the electron spin of a glycine radical, can be entangled with its center-of-mass motion and be teleported to a remote microorganism. Since internal states of an organism contain information, this proposal provides a scheme for teleporting information or memories between two remote organisms.

The proposed setup is also a quantum-limited magnetic resonance force microscope. It can not only detect the existence of single electron spins (associated with protein defects or DNA defects) like conventional MRFM, but can also coherently manipulate and detect the quantum states of electron spins. It enables some isolated electron spins that could not be read out with optical or electrical methods to be used as quantum memory for quantum information.

Li says, "We propose a straightforward method to put a microorganism in two places at the same time, and provide a scheme to teleport the quantum state of a microorganism. I hope our unconventional work will inspire more people to think seriously about quantum teleportation of a microorganism and its potential applications in the future." Yin says "Our work also provides insights for future studies about the effects of biochemical reactions in the wave function collapses of quantum superposition states of an organism."


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: quantummechanics; stringtheory; teleportation
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To: Cobra64

For some reason this photo made me think of you and your valiant bullet bra crusade.

21 posted on 01/15/2016 3:28:57 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: fwdude

Uhh...it is fiction. lighten up.


22 posted on 01/15/2016 3:29:39 PM PST by Ghost of SVR4 (So many are so hopelessly dependent on the government that they will fight to protect it.)
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To: Kirkwood

Interesting definition of memory. That’s like saying a grain of sand has a memory.

...

In some sense it does. We call some silicon in our computers memory.


23 posted on 01/15/2016 3:29:50 PM PST by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: presidio9

Maybe a way to give Biden a brain?


24 posted on 01/15/2016 3:34:57 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: Signalman

In about 15-20 years it will do either that, or provide you with an infinite and endless variety of Lovecraftian horrors and bizzareties to torment your then immortal essence...


25 posted on 01/15/2016 3:39:33 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: jsanders2001

Why would they want to do something like this?

Because if they just came right out with a working teleporter — people would know they got the technology from the aliens.

/S


26 posted on 01/15/2016 3:42:43 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Ghost of SVR4
Uhh...it is fiction. lighten up.

How does that dismiss its underlying message, which isn't intended as fiction?

Your response is like those on the left defending the most despicable art or entertainment, saying, "it's just art/entertainment." The art carries a message that the promoter finds real, or wishes to be real.

27 posted on 01/15/2016 3:47:54 PM PST by fwdude
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To: Moonman62

B5 was actually pretty fair towards religion. I think JMS is an atheist but I might be thinking of someone else.


28 posted on 01/15/2016 4:00:12 PM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: presidio9; MeshugeMikey; SunkenCiv

What if it’s a false memory like eye witness testimony?


29 posted on 01/15/2016 4:08:13 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama is more supportive of Iran's right to defend its territorial borders than he is of the USA's.)
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To: presidio9
Just hook a pair of these puppies up with the right electronics, pop the organism to be transported in one, turn 'em both on, and voila!


30 posted on 01/15/2016 4:12:12 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: presidio9

this will make for some entertaining reading 20 years down the pike.

another Trans human sort of.....alleged theory

artificial intelligence was supposed to debut by 2005 what happened?


31 posted on 01/15/2016 4:12:54 PM PST by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill ><> GO CRUZ!!!!)
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To: Ghost of SVR4
Uhh...it is fiction. lighten up.

That was gonna be my response. The transporter is just a plot device to get people on and off different ships and planets.

32 posted on 01/15/2016 4:15:44 PM PST by Sans-Culotte (''Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small''~ Theodore Dalrymple)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Guess I missed that one....


33 posted on 01/15/2016 4:17:58 PM PST by SaveFerris (Be a blessing to a stranger today for some have entertained angels unaware)
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To: fwdude
There is no thought for the soul, which is immaterial, but which makes human.

That's assuming there is such a thing as a soul..Considering all the violence that is going on in this world, I'm inclined to believe there is no such thing.

34 posted on 01/15/2016 4:20:29 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Dear Santa: Please find a home for every homeless and unwanted cat and dog that is suffering)
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To: jsanders2001
Why would they want to do something like this?

The only answer is curiosity and your question has likely been asked millions of times throughout our history...........

35 posted on 01/15/2016 4:23:09 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Dear Santa: Please find a home for every homeless and unwanted cat and dog that is suffering)
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To: presidio9

Bob is dead, but we kept his memory alive....


36 posted on 01/15/2016 4:28:59 PM PST by GeronL (I remember when this was a conservative forum)
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To: presidio9

Like a twin?


37 posted on 01/15/2016 4:33:20 PM PST by dhs12345
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To: MeshugeMikey
artificial intelligence was supposed to debut by 2005 what happened?

This paper is discussing transporting the memory/consciousness of a microorganism. These are stimulus/response creatures, whose "memory" contains a byte or two of information at most.

It has been estimated that the typical human consciousness contains 2.5 to 3 petabytes of information. that is 2.5 times 10 to the 15th power, or 2,500,000,000,000,000 bytes or 2,500 terabytes.

So, first we need to figure out how to actually access all of this information (the "download" alone could presumably take years for an individual), then someone needs to invent a quantum computer that lasts long enough to do anything with it.

As with many thought experiments in quantum physics, the purpose isn't actually to invent a working transporter. But exercises like this do sometimes lead to unexpected breakthroughs in other areas.

38 posted on 01/15/2016 4:34:50 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: Moonman62

An integrated circuit is a bit different than a grain of sand.


39 posted on 01/15/2016 4:39:45 PM PST by dhs12345
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To: presidio9

I remember my first organism, what’s the problem?


40 posted on 01/15/2016 4:49:12 PM PST by Las Vegas Ron ("Medicine is the keystone in the arch of Socialism" Vladimir Lenin)
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