Northwestern University Researchers Develop Quantum Switch

Scientists at Northwestern University have successfully transported entangled particles of light through a fiber optic cable without losing the entangled information.  

Entanglement is simply a term that describes an unexplainable phenomena between quantum particles. No matter how far apart two entangled particles are, they will always share the same physical state. Current day physics cannot explain how this instantaneous transfer of data happens. Einstein called entanglement, "The ghost in the machine."

Nonetheless, we don't have to understand any physical phenomena completely in order to exploit it. Who wouldn't want instantaneous communication?

Readers who remember basic high school computer science know that computer software is built on a vast foundation of 1's and 0's...binary code.

The attraction of quantum data, the basic unit being the qubit, is that it can simultaneously be 1 and 0, in addition to being 1 or 0. In addition, qubits contain the ability of being entangled with each other at completely different physical locations. Normal bits of information don't have this ability. This new quantum switch allows for the actual transportation of qubit information from one location to another. As such, its a practical step forward in the development of an ultrafast (instantaneous), quantum-based Internet because it lays the groundwork for using our pre-existing fiber optic infrastructure.