A Dutch scientist has claimed to have made a major break-through in teleportation, leaving the residents of Manchester wondering what they would do if such technology existed.
Professor Ronald Hanson, from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, claims to be the first person to teleport particles between two points three metres apart.
And he hasn’t just done it once – Professor Hanson has proved his research is reliable, achieving a 100% success rate again and again.
Professor Hanson told the Telegraph he believes this shows that human teleportation should one day be possible – despite Albert Einstein dismissing the theory as ‘spooky’ nonsense.
“If you believe we are nothing more than a collection of atoms strung together in a particular way, then in principle it should be possible to teleport ourselves from one place to another,” he said.
“I would not rule it out, because there’s no fundamental law of physics preventing it.”
His research has sparked excited debates about the possibility of human teleportation, and we asked the people of Manchester where teleport if given the chance.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority said they’d jump at the chance for a spacial-hop holiday.
Sharon, a 47-year-old finance director, said she’d be sunbathing in the Caribbean in a heartbeat – literally – while pensioner Linda Roberts, 66, wanted to see New Zealand.
“Bali!” said Andrew Wright, 33. “It just has such an interesting image. Bit of a change from Stockport.”
“I’d probably go to Australia as I’ve never been there before,” said Carys, a 23-year-old junior studio manager.
“Have you seen how grey it is in Manchester today?” she pointed out. “Who wouldn’t want to give themselves a holiday?”
22-year-old Conor Horan, from South Manchester, cited less recreational reasons for wanting to get out of England. he said: “I’d go to Cuba, because I’m a socialist.”
But David Butler, a company secretary at 68, said he’d just use the device to go to Dorset.
He said: “It’s rather better weather down there. And I am still fond of England whatever the consensus is nowadays.”
Nina, a 19-year-old student, said she’d also like a teleportation device for mundane reasons, such as being able to teleport to her university lectures – or to TopShop.
Only one Manchester dweller, despite saying he had been interested in the possibility of teleportation for years, claimed he wouldn’t use the device at all due to the way it worked.
In order to transport a human being from one point to another, the body would have to be scanned down to a sub-atomic level, destroyed, then assembled afresh from the scan in a new destination.
“The new me that would be created wouldn’t really be me,” said Peter Carlson, 21, an IT technician by day and self-confessed movie buff by night.
“It would work like cutting and pasting on a computer – the same text but a new code. So it looks the same, but isn’t really.
“I would only consider using it to visit another planet.”
Unfortunately for jaded commuters and wannabe holidaymakers, this research is only a small step towards the kind of teleportation seen in cult sci-fi shows like Star Trek.
Professor Hanson admitted: “If it ever does happen, it will be far in the future.”
Professor Hanson’s team have so far managed to teleport information encoded into sub-atomic particles –very, very small particles – a total distance of three metres.
But it is the first step, and Professor Hanson says it proves that teleportation on a much bigger scale should one day be possible.
What the research could mean in the much nearer future would be the creation a new form of internet.
This ‘quantum internet’ would be 100% secure, as it would be impossible to intercept information as it was sent from one point to another.
Professor Hanson’s research team are now working on teleporting particles further.
The next experiment will be attempting to send the encoded information from one building on the Delft University campus to the other – a much grander total of 1,300 metres.
Professor Hanson believes the experiment will work, but he said: “It’s a huge technical challenge.
“There’s a reason why nobody has done it yet!”
Image courtesy of CBS Television Distribution, via YouTube, with thanks.
