Does quantum superposition of large objects mean real teleportation someday?

Question

I saw on MSN yesterday an article about scientists causing objects of "several thousand atoms" size to exist in two places simultaneously, which had never been done before.

I believe this could eventually lead to teleportation of bulk materials, instead of needing to spend fuel to move stuff around. (I hope anyway).

This could also lead to medical breakthroughs. Imagine getting an implant with no incision?

SueShe · Answer

No, this is something that will remain impossible in the foreseeable future, or at least in the next 1000+ years. The real problem is not so much to have atoms being at 2 simultaneous locations but to place those atoms correctly in the transported position.

A good example of problems that may arise is the movie "The Fly".

The real problem is to recompose the original subject, molecule by molecule in the right place in its displaced position. If you as much as misplace one molecule or atom, you have a problem. How many molecules are there in a human body?

The answer is that an average human body contains approximately 7 times 10^{27} (seven octillion) atoms.

If you a manage to place each atom at the exact position, then yes, you may teleport a human being.

jshm2 · Answer

You believe wrong.

Nothing is "teleported" All they have done is copy the quantum state - not the physical matter.

Also it's not any sort of "unique" experiment either. in fact some have done larger quantum state transfers.

But bottom line is that your understanding is wrong. At best this technology (if it ever matures) will mean experiments can be better simulated without the cost and physical resources being expended.

So if you want to "see" what a new poison does to a rabbit - you don't need to poison a rabbit - like modern science experiments do. instead, you simulate the quantum states to see what the end result is.

msc545 · Answer

That's very interesting. Can you please link to that article?

Does quantum superposition of large objects mean real teleportation someday?

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