Saturday, April 26, 2014

Teleportation: It can be achieved incrementally this Century

In a recent ABC News article, they reported that 39% percent of U.S. adults believe scientists will make teleportation happen in the next 50 years, according to a new Pew Research. I happen to be one of those believers.

Teleportation involves the transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. Many believe current technology provides no possibility of anything resembling the fictional form of teleportation we have seen portrayed in Star Trek movies.

However, I prefer to listen to experts like physicist Michio Kaku. He has stated in a number of venues over time that he believes "It is physically possible to teleport an entire human being across the room or maybe onto Mars." See http://bigthink.com/videos/the-metaphysics-of-teleportation-2

Quantum teleportation is a process by which quantum information (e.g. the exact state of an atom or photon) can be transmitted from one location to another via classical communication between the sending and receiving location proceeding no faster than the speed of light.

With the advent of 3D printing, we can now essentially transport inanimate 'things' across space by simply sending the digitized information about an object to a 3D printer in another location – even Mars. When the information is received, the object can then be 'printed' out.

Teleporting human beings is much more complex and is still many decades away. The solution that springs to mind, similar in concept to teleporting inanimate objects, may require us to do some profound thinking and to refine our definition of what exactly a human being is.

For example, is the 'heart & soul' of human beings the collected information and knowledge we have acquired since our birth that is stored in our brains. In other words, is a human some form of complex 'information being'.

If this is the case, can we be housed not only in our existing physical bodies, but could we also have the essence of our 'information being' be digitized and teleported into a new synthetic 'body' of some sort (e.g. android, cyborg) at some remote location – anywhere in the world.

This may be possible in several decades as a wide range of technologies continue to advance and converge towards a moment of singularity where biotechnology solutions emerge and make possible the scenario above.

According to an article in the May 2014 Issue of The Futurist, we are not far from breaking the barriers to exchanging medical information, drugs, medical equipment, or life itself through biological teleportation and the advances of 3-D printing.

As civilization on Earth makes the transition from a Stage 0 to a more advanced Stage 1 civilization, the need to be able to teleport inanimate objects and 'human beings' around our solar system will become necessary.  See my related blog on "Redefining Our Purpose as Civilization Keeps Evolving".

The bottom line - teleportation is in fact possible right now and will progress incrementally over time, starting with inanimate objects in the immediate future and ultimately moving towards the teleportation of human beings.

One final note, by further embracing the use of open access, open source, and open communities, that will only help speed the process of developing more sophisticated forms of teleportation over the coming decades that will be needed by the end of this century.

The following are several links to key teleportation research, organizations, studies, etc.

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