Sunday, 18 June 2017

Faster than light

I have learned yet another astounding thing about light recently.

I knew some time ago that if you shine an equal amount of light from a certain distance toward two side-by-side apertures with identical photon-detectors behind, the photons tend to prefer one hole to the other, and will accumulate much more on that side. This implies that the light makes a 'decision' about which hole to go through, even though it is supposed to travel in perfectly straight, undeviating lines.

Then I heard about 'twinned' photons. Some photons are created as identical twins (don't ask me how or why) which can be separated. If you do something to/with one of them, its twin will respond in a completely identical way, even at some distance apart. The other side of the Universe, for instance.

This opens up the way for real-life teleportation.

There is a lot of work going into this phenomena (as predicted by Einstein, again) in China right now, but they are using twinned photons to create the world's first Quantum Computer.

When the computer is perfected, information will be able to be instantly sent to another computer - possibly on the other side of the Universe - without the need for even fibre-optic cables.

What will they think of next?
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17 comments:

  1. Joanne Noragon18 June 2017 at 08:01

    I believe the Chinese just launched an x-ray probe, to observe black holes and the like. They have a further series of optical satellites scheduled for launch. I believe I am improving; I cannot believe I just found that fact stuck in my brain.

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    1. Tom Stephenson18 June 2017 at 10:26

      All through my life it has been the important trivia which has stuck. Not always important either.

      Delete
  2. Cro Magnon18 June 2017 at 08:16

    And yet, no-one has yet found a cure for the simple common cold, or an eradicator of Corbyn sympathisers. Priorities.

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    1. Tom Stephenson18 June 2017 at 10:29

      Don't worry. You have breakfast to look forward to next.

      Delete
    2. Cro Magnon18 June 2017 at 20:27

      And now I've just heard of the Finsbury Park incident.... Things go from bad to worse.

      Delete
    3. Tom Stephenson19 June 2017 at 02:22

      Street violence always gets worse on a hot night. London is very tense right now. There is far too much anger waiting to explode.

      Delete
  3. Rachel Phillips18 June 2017 at 08:24

    I was reading a book on anti gravity. I found it difficult to put down.

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  4. The Weaver of Grass18 June 2017 at 10:06

    After reading this Tom my brain hurts.

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  5. Jacqueline @ HOME18 June 2017 at 11:41

    You lost me at photons !!! XXXX

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    1. Tom Stephenson19 June 2017 at 02:23

      It's worth looking into. I find it hard to come to terms with, but I do have a very susceptible imagination, which helps.

      Delete
  6. Tom Stephenson18 June 2017 at 15:59

    You know, I would have been a genius were it not that I scored zero marks in my maths O Level. Anyone who is prepared to accept any counter intuitive theory is capable of this, but ultimately faith in God can only be justified as a serious belief system with a steel grip on advanced mathematics.

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  7. libby19 June 2017 at 00:00

    'Beam me up Scottie'? I had to look up what a photon detector was..............

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  8. Mise19 June 2017 at 01:23

    That twinned photon concept is fascinating. As an artiste, your duty now is surely to interpret it for us, the loyal readers, in a piece of sculpture?

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    1. Tom Stephenson19 June 2017 at 02:19

      I already did. It is the header photo for this post, but it is being blotted out by all the other photons coming from the screen. Maybe I ought to scale it up.

      Delete
  9. MrsC (Maryanne)20 June 2017 at 11:36

    I have the common cold here is no cure for, and my face hurts and my eyelids are drooping as the alarm goes off in he boudoir and the husband heaves himself forth for a day at work. I've been up since 3.30am as my blocked nose was making lying down really unsleepworthy. I have no science in me, back to bed. zzz

    ReplyDelete

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