Posted on 08/19/2017 1:55:39 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Chinese quantum satellite sends 'unbreakable' code
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has sent an "unbreakable" code from a satellite to the Earth, marking the first time space-to-ground quantum key distribution technology has been realized, state media said on Thursday.
China launched the world's first quantum satellite last August, to help establish "hack proof" communications, a development the Pentagon has called a "notable advance".
The official Xinhua news agency said the latest experiment was published in the journal Nature on Thursday, where reviewers called it a "milestone".
The satellite sent quantum keys to ground stations in China between 645 km (400 miles) and 1,200 km (745 miles) away at a transmission rate up to 20 orders of magnitude more efficient than an optical fiber, Xinhua cited Pan Jianwei, lead scientist on the experiment from the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, as saying.
"That, for instance, can meet the demand of making an absolute safe phone call or transmitting a large amount of bank data," Pan said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Interesting. Could be! Expecting alien worlds to communicate via radio waves might be like expecting to hear the sound of drums to communicate across interstellar distances.
What if some advanced alien civilization left behind an FTL communication device? One perhaps intended only for discovery when we are advanced enough to recognize it for what it is?
With God all things are possible (He made it). This is super duper cool.
Or maybe a subspace frequency modulator, or perhaps a temporal subway.
Then there would be no need for a satellite.
And a large numba 3 arrives with stripes and a roar.
That used to be the case. Now, with all of the leaks, I wouldn't be so sure.
Look, we’re busy taking down statues that offend morons and fighting for the rights of confused and depraved males to share a bathroom with your wives and daughters. Ain’t nobody got time for no quantum nonsense. It is probably racist, anyway.
/s
LOL, good point!
We’ve had radio now for about 125 years and already its replacement by a vastly superior technology is on the horizon. Expecting to find a civilization while in that brief phase where radio is the dominant means of communication seems very unlikely.
Great Scott!!
Radio frequency is photons, too.
It’s like teleportation.
Yep, but the teleport is just for information. No mass is teleported, just the quantum state of the entangled particles.
“Basically, you store an encryption key (1024 or 2048 bits) in a photon”
Basically? How do you store that many bits of info in a single photon?
How did they get the entangled photon in the satellite and how do they contain it - aren’t photons moving at the speed of light?
Yeah, Let them keep thinking it is unbreakable. That was the way we intercepted German and Japan codes during WWII. It turned the German U-boats ability to sink our convoys. It gave us early warning of Japanese plans for the battle of Midway. That is just two examples of letting our enemies think their communications are secure.
Then, maybe it was the Chinese who hacked the DNC instead of the Russians?
Did anyone ask if the message actually said anything, or was it unbreakable because no one can make gibberish coherent?
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