Quantum Information

A quantum internet could one day allow quantum computers to team up and tackle some gigantic problems. Researchers at Toshiba are a step closer, demonstrating quantum communications sent over a record-breaking 600 km (373 miles) of optic fiber.

There’s no such thing as random in classical physics – for true randomization you need to turn to quantum physics. Now scientists have done just that, creating secure encryption keys based on the genuine randomness of quantum vibrations of diamond.

In a new distance record, researchers have sent a photon, entangled with an ion, down a 50-km (31-mi) long optical fiber.

In a quantum network, information is passed instantly between nodes that have been entangled, and are unhackable since any unauthorized observation of the data will scramble it. Delft scientists have now overcome a hurdle to that technology, by generating quantum links faster than they deteriorate.

Chinese scientists claim to have launched the world's first quantum communications satellite with which they intend to experiment with quantum communication and teleportation from space, in the hope of one day producing an entire global network of quantum communication systems.

Scientists have successfully trialled a quantum "data bus" – a system that transfers quantum information from one place to another, which had previously only been theorized. They accomplished this feat with a technique called perfect state transfer.

Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) claim to have teleported the quantum information carried in light particles over 100 km (62 miles) of optical fiber, four times farther than the previous record.

Using atoms of the rare-earth element europium, scientists from the Australian National University have shattered previous records for quantum information retention by creating a storage device capable of holding quantum state information for up to six hours at a time.

Using high-powered laser interferometers to determine if space-time is a quantum system made up of countless tiny bits of information, Fermilab scientists are conducting an experiment to see if the universe is "real" or a holographic 3-D illusion.

Researchers in the Netherlands claim to have successfully transferred data via teleportation across the width of a room, and hope to go on to prove that Einstein's rejection of the theory of entanglement was wrong.

Physicists have developed a method to make quantum teleportation much more efficient than was previously possible, leading the way to better quantum computers and, perhaps, the teleportation of object and humans.