January 23, 2009

Quantum Teleportation Is Here...Are Quantum Computers Next?

Quantum entanglement makes the news again, and I can't help thinking that we're just at the base camp of a Mt. Everest of quantum technologies to come...the calculating speeds of quantum "chips" would far outpace classical models, and quantum teleportation of information between atoms (possible because of a quantum bit's "superposition" ability to represent two states at once until a measurement is made--then quantum entanglement does its job, transferring information from qubit A to qubit B) has implications the technology world is in a tizzy over: quantum computers, quantum encryption, even quantum internet would all be on the horizon.

But what about quantum thought? How does the fact that qubits can transmit information affect our understanding of telepathy (couldn't thought information be contained in the qubits?) or telekinesis (based on principles of quantum levitation)? Maybe recent accomplishments in the laboratory will lead to a tangential cosmological discovery...

Further reading: An Introduction to Quantum Computing by Phillip Kaye, Raymond Laflamme, and Michele Mosca; Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner

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