Teleportation just moved closer to reality, thanks to a new breakthrough in quantum mechanics.
Since the 1990s, scientists have successfully teleported photons, and more recently, experiments suggest electrons could be next. Quantum entanglement — the bizarre connection between particles across vast distances — forms the basis for this research.
Now, according to National Science Foundation-funded research by University of Rochester and Purdue University scientists, teleportation may also be possible between electrons. This is a massive breakthrough.
And as quantum computing advances, experts speculate that teleporting complex matter, even humans, might one day be possible. However, the process isn’t as simple as stepping into a sci-fi transporter. Teleportation wouldn’t move physical matter but rather the quantum information of every atom in a person’s body, essentially reconstructing them at the destination while destroying the original.
As quantum entanglement has shown us recently, you’re not literally transporting matter itself. Instead, you’re transporting information about that thing that characterizes a quantum state.
This raises a fundamental question: would the person who arrives still be the same individual, or merely a perfect copy?
Ethical and philosophical dilemmas loom large, with physicists like John Clauser warning that stepping into such a machine would equate to death, with only a replicant emerging on the other side. While teleportation’s potential applications — such as instant space travel — are tantalizing, the risks and unknowns remain significant.
For now, the dream of human teleportation remains theoretical, but as quantum technology evolves, society may soon have to decide whether the benefits outweigh the existential risks.
