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Unlike Bilbo's magic ring, which entangles human hearts, engineers have created a new micro-ring that entangles individual particles of light, an important first step in a whole host of new technologies.
Entanglement - the instantaneous connection between two particles no matter their distance apart - is one of the most intriguing and promising phenomena in all of physics. Properly harnessed, entangled photons could revolutionize computing, communications, and cyber security. Though readily created in the lab and by comparatively large-scale optoelectronic components, a practical source of entangled photons that can fit onto an ordinary computer chip has been elusive.
New research, reported today in The Optical Society's (OSA) new high-impact journal Optica, describes how a team of scientists has developed, for the first time, a microscopic component that is small enough to fit onto a standard silicon chip that can generate a continuous supply of entangled photons.
http://phys.org/news/2015-01-entanglement-chip-breakthrough-faster.html
[Abstract]: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/optica/abstract.cfm?uri=optica-2-2-88
[Paper]: http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.4881
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 28 2015, @07:56AM
them entangled particles are known to be entangled thus if this one is "heads-up" then the other is "tails-up"?
but ...errr... how do you know which one to send if you don't know which one is which because figuring out which one is "heads" and which one is "tails" "destroys/measures" the entanglement?
in short: i thought it was not possible to use entangled particles for communication?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 28 2015, @08:10AM
well i think we could do morse code over entangled particles without using the entanglement property and inherent security (measurement destroys).
you could sync two atomic clocks 1 year (technical fictional because we can't physical travel that far: for illustration purpose only!) apart and agree on a "frequency", say 60 hz, that is 60 "steps" or "gaps per second".
We create a entangled stream.
if we create a entangled pair, a "dot" and if not then a "dash" per 60 Hz.
so the morse rate is 60 Hz.
if the clocks are synced then the 1 light year away detector will either see a instantaneous/entangled particle arrive (dot) or not (dash).
it doesn't matter if the entangled particles are "head" or "tails" but rather "did one arrive -OR- not".
there's no security is this setup but it is instantaneous ... faster then light which would take a year : )
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 28 2015, @08:28AM
Quantum key distribution [wikipedia.org] uses entangled particles to ensure both sides receive the same random message without it being intercepted. As you can't chose the message, you use the quantum channel for a key (either a one-time pad or something more complicated if your quantum channel is slower than your desired data rate) and send data encrypted with that key over a conventional data connection.