No, the Chinese Did Not Teleport an Object into Orbit

The state of Science Journalism is a dumpster fire.

This article made the rounds last week:

Sounds awesome, right?

Well it’s bullshit. A photon is an “object” as much as that fart noise you make with your armpit is a jazz solo.

armpit jazz solo
Duke Nurples and the Sweaty Trio, playing three nights a week at the Beef Lounge

But hey, don’t just take our word for it, we’ve got some actual physicists to call BS on this, starting with Jason Thalken PhD, author of Fight Like a Physicist: The Incredible Science Behind Martial Arts:

While this is a pretty cool achievement, it is a bit misleading to call it teleportation without and further clarification in the headline. When we see “teleportation,” we think about transporting macroscopic objects, but this is more like the instantaneous transmission of a very tiny piece of information.
I hesitate to say something is “impossible” but it is very unlikely that we figure out how to employ quantum entanglement to transport macroscopic chunks of matter (like people) in our lifetimes.

Buy his book, cretins.

And then there’s Matt Lowry, Professor of Physics, also known as the Skeptical Teacher:

The term “teleportation” is a misnomer. Photons are not objects in the sense of “Beam me up, Scotty” like you see in Star Trek. Rather, the photons *are* the beam; specifically, one of the two photons in the entangled pair is the beam. And when the un-beamed photon is measured and its state is determined, then we know the opposing state of the beamed photon. That’s how quantum entanglement works.

He’s not selling a book or anything at the moment, but he did contribute a link to the (always) relevent XKCD:

There’s ALWAYS a relevant XKCD…

Phrost
I don't write articles for people who read Vox or the New Yorker, I write articles for people who read microwave pizza instructions more than once but are significantly more dangerous as a group. Head Knuckle at Bullshido
The Art of Fighting BS Podcast on Spotify

The Art of Fighting BS Podcast on iTunes

The Art of Fighting BS Podcast on Google Play

The Art of Fighting BS Podcast on Stitcher

Latest articles

Related articles

35 Comments

  1. Generally I do not read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thanks, quite nice post.

  2. Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such great information being shared freely out there.

  3. Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.

  4. I was more than happy to find this net-site.I wanted to thanks on your time for this wonderful read!! I positively having fun with every little little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you weblog post.

  5. I’ve recently started a website, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. “Never trust anybody who says ‘trust me.’ Except just this once, of course. – from Steel Beach” by John Varley.

  6. Have you ever considered creating an e-book or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog centered on the same topics you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an email.

  7. Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!

  8. Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and everything. Nevertheless think of if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and clips, this website could definitely be one of the very best in its field. Terrific blog!

  9. I do agree with all the ideas you have presented in your post. They are very convincing and will certainly work. Still, the posts are too short for novices. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.

  10. I do enjoy the way you have framed this specific difficulty and it really does offer me personally some fodder for consideration. On the other hand, coming from what precisely I have seen, I simply wish as the actual responses stack on that folks keep on issue and not embark upon a tirade involving the news of the day. All the same, thank you for this exceptional point and whilst I can not necessarily concur with this in totality, I value the standpoint.

  11. Wow that was strange. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say excellent blog!

  12. Just about all of whatever you articulate happens to be supprisingly precise and that makes me ponder why I had not looked at this in this light before. Your article truly did turn the light on for me personally as far as this particular subject goes. But there is actually one particular point I am not too cozy with so while I attempt to reconcile that with the central idea of the issue, let me observe exactly what the rest of your visitors have to point out.Well done.

  13. Hey would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good hosting provider at a honest price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!

  14. I’m not sure where you are getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this info for my mission.

  15. You could certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.

  16. Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same outcome.

Leave a reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here