Dr. Kaku: DISINTEGRATING AND REMATERIALIZING
AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON,
CROSSING THOUSANDS OF MILES OF SPACE ON A BEAM OF X-RAYS.
TELEPORTATION IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRAVEL,
AND IT COULD BE COMING TO A PLANET NEAR YOU.
I'M DR. MICHIO KAKU.
I'M A THEORETICAL PHYSICIST AND A SCIENCE-FICTION FAN.
JOIN ME AS I SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE SCI-FI SCIENCE.
IMAGINE A FUTURE WHERE TELEPORTATION IS POSSIBLE.
IN THE TIME IT TAKES TO MAKE A LONG-DISTANCE PHONE CALL,
YOU COULD BE THERE.
IF AN ALIEN-INVASION FORCE WAS HOVERING OVERHEAD
OR AN ASTEROID WAS HURTLING TOWARDS THE PLANET,
YOU COULD INSTANTLY BEAM YOURSELF OUT OF DANGER.
CARS WOULD BE OBSOLETE, AIRLINE FOOD A BAD MEMORY.
EVEN NASA ENGINEERS COULD PUT THEIR FEET UP.
WHO NEEDS EXPENSIVE ROCKETS WHEN YOU COULD SIMPLY TELEPORT?
I COULD ZAP TO PARIS ON A WHIM,
SWING BY TOKYO ON THE WAY HOME,
AND TAKE IN THE VIEW FROM THE MOON IF I FELT LIKE IT.
A TELEPORTATION SYSTEM WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.
AND I'M GONNA SHOW YOU HOW TO BUILD ONE.
I WANT MY DESIGN TO BE THE ULTIMATE SCI-FI TELEPORTER.
FIRST I NEED A VERY CLEAR DESIGN SPEC.
WHO BETTER TO ASK THAN THE SCI-FI FANS THEMSELVES?
A TELEPORTER SHOULD BE ABLE TO -- TO JUST PUT YOU ANYWHERE.
LIKE A DOORWAY
THAT YOU'RE WALKING FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER.
YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO STEP OFF OF THE PLATFORM HERE ON EARTH,
AND SUDDENLY YOU'RE NOW CLIMBING THE MOUNTAINS OF MARS.
MY TELEPORTER NEEDS TO PROVIDE INSTANT TRAVEL TO ANYWHERE,
OVER ANY DISTANCE.
I GUESS MARS COULD BECOME A HOT HOLIDAY DESTINATION.
Dr. Kaku: FOR THOSE OF US
WITHOUT THE POWER TO JUMP THROUGH SPACE-TIME,
TELEPORTATION IS GONNA REQUIRE SOME PRETTY SERIOUS EQUIPMENT.
MY SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE FAST, ACCURATE, AND 100% PAINLESS.
IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO BEAM YOU ANYWHERE INSTANTLY.
IT HAS TO BE TOTALLY RELIABLE.
WHO WANTS TO TELEPORT
IF THERE'S A RISK OF LOSING HALF YOUR BODY IN TRANSIT?
MY TELEPORTER SHOULD BE ABLE TO TRANSPORT ANYTHING --
A PERSON...
A TRAIN...
THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING --
IF IT FITS INTO THE MACHINE.
LET'S SAY I WANT TO SEND THIS SCULPTURE
TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
ACCORDING TO THE LORE OF SCIENCE FICTION,
I'VE GOT TWO OPTIONS.
I COULD BREAK IT DOWN TO ITS ATOMS
AND SOMEHOW TRY TO TRANSPORT THOSE,
LIKE IN THE MOVIE "THE FLY."
BUT I THINK "STAR TREK" HAD A BETTER APPROACH --
CONVERT IT INTO DATA, A BIT LIKE A SET OF INSTRUCTIONS,
AND BEAM THOSE UP.
THIS MAY SOUND PRETTY SIMPLE,
BUT IT HELPS TO BRING TELEPORTATION
ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY.
RATHER THAN TRANSPORT THE ATOMS,
I TRANSPORT THE INSTRUCTIONS
AND, PROVIDING THAT THERE ARE PLENTY ATOMS
AT ITS DESTINATION,
IT CAN BE REASSEMBLED.
DATA CONTAINS NO MATTER.
SO IT WOULD BE A LOT EASIER TO BEAM AROUND THE UNIVERSE
THAN SOLID ATOMS.
THIS IS DEFINITELY THE BEST OPTION FOR MY DESIGN.
AND THE CRAZY THING IS, I'VE BEEN BEATEN TO IT.
SCIENTISTS HERE AT THE JOINT QUANTUM INSTITUTE
HAVE ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE.
THAT EVENT -- THE RISING EDGE OR FALLING EDGE --
TELL US THAT THE TELEPORTATION'S DONE.
CHRIS MONROE AND HIS TEAM
HAVE ALREADY MANAGED TO TELEPORT ATOMIC DATA.
SO, WE'RE ACTUALLY WITNESSING TELEPORTATION
RIGHT THERE AND RIGHT THERE.
THAT'S RIGHT. THAT HAPPENED A FEW SECONDS AGO.
SO, TELEPORTATION REALLY IS POSSIBLE.
THIS IS PROOF OF PRINCIPLE.
CHRIS AND HIS TEAM HAVE TELEPORTED ATOMS
USING NOTHING BUT A MYSTERIOUS CONNECTION
CALLED QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT.
Monroe: QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT IS A LINK
THAT ALLOWS YOU TO TRANSFER INFORMATION.
IT'S VERY MUCH LIKE A CABLE, BUT THE CABLE'S NOT THERE.
I THINK THIS INVISIBLE CABLE
COULD BE THE BASIS FOR MY TELEPORTATION SYSTEM.
IN THIS EXPERIMENT, TWO METAL ATOMS
ARE ENCLOSED IN SEPARATE CONTAINERS.
WE START WITH TWO LASER PULSES THAT VIBRATE EXACTLY IN SYNC.
THOSE TWO PULSES, IN TURN, HIT TWO ATOMS SIMULTANEOUSLY.
SO THE ATOMS, TOO, ARE NOW VIBRATING IN SYNC.
THIS SOMEHOW CREATES AN INVISIBLE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE TWO ATOMS.
Monroe: WE FORM THE LINK USING LIGHT.
BUT AFTER THE LIGHT IS GONE, THE ENTANGLEMENT IS STILL THERE.
SO, WHAT MAKES THE ENTANGLEMENT?
THERE'S NOT A GOOD ANSWER
'CAUSE THERE'S NOTHING THAT MAKES THE ENTANGLEMENT.
IT JUST IS.
IT'S SO WEIRD THAT EVEN EINSTEIN
HAD PROBLEMS UNDERSTANDING WHAT WAS GOING ON.
HE CALLED IT "SPOOKY ACTION AT A DISTANCE."
Dr. Kaku: IMAGINE ALL THE INFORMATION IN ATOM "A"
MAGICALLY TELEPORTED ACROSS THE ROOM TO ATOM "B,"
CREATING AN EXACT COPY OF THE ORIGINAL.
ALL THAT WE USED WAS THIS GHOSTLIKE BOND
BETWEEN TWO ATOMS CALLED QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT.
IT ACTUALLY BLOWS MY MIND.
JUST IMAGINE -- THE UNIVERSE IS CRISSCROSSED
WITH TRILLIONS OF THESE WEIRD WIRES,
EACH ONE CARRYING MESSAGES BETWEEN DISTANT ATOMS.
HI, I'D LIKE TWO PLAIN HOT DOGS, PLEASE.
QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT IS ON THE VERY EDGE
OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE,
BUT IT SEEMS TO WORK LIKE THIS --
IF I BITE INTO THIS HOT DOG,
THEN I KNOW WITH 100% CERTAINTY
THAT NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO THAT HOT DOG.
HOWEVER, IF THESE HOT DOGS WERE ATOMS,
THEN THE LAWS OF QUANTUM PHYSICS APPLY,
AND IN THE QUANTUM WORLD, THINGS GET REALLY, REALLY WEIRD.
LET'S SAY THESE ATOMS COULD BE IN ONE OF TWO QUANTUM STATES --
MUSTARD OR KETCHUP.
IN THE QUANTUM WORLD,
UNTIL THE MOMENT I TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT STATE THE ATOM IS IN,
IT'S CONSTANTLY SWITCHING BETWEEN THE TWO.
IT'S ONLY WHEN I LOOK CLOSELY
THAT THE ATOM PICKS WHICH ONE IT WILL BECOME.
BUT HERE'S WHAT'S EVEN STRANGER.
IF I MANAGE TO ENTANGLE THE TWO ATOMS,
THEN THE MOMENT ONE HOT DOG BECOMES MUSTARD,
ITS PARTNER, EVEN IF IT'S AT THE OTHER END OF THE UNIVERSE,
MYSTERIOUSLY BECOMES KETCHUP.
IF THE FIRST HOT DOG PICKS KETCHUP,
THEN ITS PARTNER BECOMES MUSTARD.
THIS INVISIBLE ENTANGLEMENT LINK
COULD BE THE KEY FOR MY TELEPORTER DESIGN.
IT'S THE PIPELINE THROUGH WHICH I CAN TRANSMIT DATA.
HOW CAN THE INFORMATION OF ONE ATOM
MOVE TO ANOTHER ATOM ACROSS LIGHT-YEARS OF SPACE?
WHAT IS THIS INVISIBLE BOND MADE OF?
THE SHORT ANSWER IS -- WE HAVE NO IDEA.
LET'S SAY I WANTED TO TELEPORT AN ATOM FROM HERE TO TOKYO
USING QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT.
I START WITH TWO ATOMS THAT ARE VIBRATING EXACTLY IN SYNC
SO THEY BECOME ENTANGLED.
THEN I SEPARATE THEM,
PUTTING ONE IN NEW YORK AND THE OTHER IN TOKYO.
THEY WOULD FORM AN INVISIBLE CABLE
ALONG WHICH DATA ABOUT MY ATOM COULD TRAVEL.
NEXT I WOULD TAKE THE ENTANGLED ATOM IN NEW YORK
AND TURN IT INTO AN EXACT COPY OF MY ATOM.
BECAUSE OF THE WEIRD LAWS OF QUANTUM PHYSICS,
THE ATOM IN TOKYO INSTANTLY BECOMES A MIRROR IMAGE
OF MY ATOM IN NEW YORK.
IF I MAKE A MEASUREMENT OF MY NEW YORK ATOM
AND FIND OUT IT'S RED,
THEN I KNOW THAT THE TOKYO ATOM IS YELLOW.
SO, BY SIMPLY TURNING THE ATOM IN TOKYO INTO ITS OPPOSITE,
I FIND THAT IT'S NOW IDENTICAL TO MY ATOM BACK IN NEW YORK.
FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY "ENERGIZE,"
ALL THE INFORMATION IN MY ATOM IN NEW YORK
HAS TELEPORTED ACROSS THE PLANET TO TOKYO.
SO, IN THEORY, TELEPORTING A HUMAN
SHOULD SIMPLY BE A QUESTION OF SCALING THINGS UP.
BUT I WOULD NEED AN ENTANGLED ATOM FOR EVERY ATOM IN MY BODY.
BUT THAT'S TWO WHOLE BODIES WORTH OF ATOMS.
I'D NEED A PILE AT EVERY CONCEIVABLE STARTING POINT
AND DESTINATION.
AND ENTANGLING ATOMS IS NOT EXACTLY EASY.
IT TAKES THE TEAM
AT THE JOINT QUANTUM INSTITUTE IN MARYLAND
45 MILLION ATTEMPTS TO ENTANGLE JUST TWO ATOMS.
SO IT WOULD BE UNBELIEVABLY COMPLEX TO BUILD A MACHINE
CAPABLE OF ENTANGLING EVERY ATOM IN A HUMAN BODY
EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU WANTED TO TELEPORT.
THERE ARE MORE ATOMS IN A HUMAN BODY
THAN THERE ARE STARS IN THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE.
SO, TO TELEPORT A HUMAN BEING USING QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT --
THAT GIVES ME A HEADACHE.
QUANTUM TELEPORTATION TRANSFERS INFORMATION
RATHER THAN SOLID ATOMS.
I STILL THINK THAT'S THE KEY TO PULLING THIS OFF.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I SIMPLY DON'T TRUST QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT
TO TELEPORT THE ATOMS OF MY BODY
BECAUSE IT'S SO BIZARRE AND POORLY UNDERSTOOD.
TO MAKE TELEPORTATION A REALITY,
I WANT SOMETHING RELIABLE, SOMETHING TRIED AND TRUE,
RATHER THAN SUCH A STRANGE PHENOMENON OF THE QUANTUM WORLD.
I NEED TO FIND A RADICAL NEW WAY TO TELEPORT INFORMATION.
I'M DESIGNING THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION -- A TELEPORTER.
AS ANY SENTIENT BEING KNOWS,
TELEPORTATION IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRAVEL.
BUT IS IT ACTUALLY POSSIBLE?
SINGLE-ATOM TELEPORTERS HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE LABORATORY --
PRETTY MIND-BENDING.
BUT THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE BEAMING ME TO MARS
ANY TIME SOON.
STAND BY.
TO BE PRACTICAL,
THE DESIGN NEEDS TO BE BASED ON SOLID SCIENCE.
I MEAN, WHO'S GONNA HOP INTO AN UNRELIABLE TELEPORTER?
EVEN SCIENCE-FICTION FANS HAVE THEIR RESERVATIONS.
DYING IS A MAJOR RISK IN TELEPORTATION, I WOULD SAY.
A RISK OF YOU JUST NEVER REMATERIALIZING.
THAT'D BE SAD.
I PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE THE TEST DUMMY
FOR ANYTHING THAT COULD POTENTIALLY GET ME
TO NOT EXIST ANYMORE.
THEY'RE RIGHT. MY DESIGN MUST BE SAFE.
TRANSPORTING THE ACTUAL ATOMS IS JUST TOO DANGEROUS.
THE "STAR TREK" TRANSPORTER HAD AN ENERGIZER COIL
TO EMIT WAVES OF ENERGY THAT ANALYZED THE BODY.
THEY WERE DEFINITELY ONTO SOMETHING.
I REALLY BELIEVE THE KEY IS TO TURN THE BODY INTO DATA
AND HAVE IT REBUILT AT ITS DESTINATION.
IN 1974, DR. RAYMOND DAMADIAN
INVENTED SOMETHING TOTALLY AHEAD OF ITS TIME --
THE MRI SCANNER THAT EXTRACTS DATA FROM THE HUMAN BODY.
HIS MACHINE COULD FORM AN EXCELLENT BASE
FOR A TELEPORTER.
I'M NOW INSIDE AN UPRIGHT MRI MACHINE.
I'M SURROUNDED BY A MAGNETIC FIELD
12,000 TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN THE EARTH'S.
THIS IS THE KEY TO PEERING INSIDE LIVING TISSUE.
AS THE SCAN'S TURNED ON, I'M IMMERSED IN RADIO WAVES,
WHICH PUSH AND PULL AT MY ATOMS,
MAKING THEM SEND OUT TINY PULSES OF ENERGY
USED TO GENERATE DETAILED IMAGES OF MY BODY.
Dr. Damadian: THIS IS WHAT WE WOULD TRADITIONALLY CALL
A MULTISLICE IMAGE THROUGH THE SKULL AND NECK.
AN MRI IMAGE IS LIKE A MAP.
THE MAP IS MADE OF PIXELS.
AND EACH PIXEL REVEALS THE POSITION AND PROPERTIES
OF TINY GROUPS OF CELLS.
THE SIDE OF EACH ONE OF THESE PIXELS
CAN BE, WITH OUR CURRENT TECHNOLOGY,
ON THE ORDER OF A QUARTER OF A MILLIMETER ON EACH SIDE.
THE SMALLER THE PIXELS, THE MORE PRECISE THE MAP.
THIS MACHINE HAS PIXELS
WHICH ARE SMALLER THAN A SINGLE PINHEAD.
BUT FOR MY TELEPORTER, I'LL NEED AN IMAGE
WHERE EACH PIXEL IS THE SIZE OF AN INDIVIDUAL ATOM.
THE BIG LIMITATION AT THE MOMENT
IS THE UNIFORMITY OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD.
TO GET ATOM-SIZED PIXELS,
WE NEED TO DIRECT THESE POWERFUL MAGNETS
EQUALLY OVER THE WHOLE BODY.
SO IF WE CAN MAKE THAT MAGNETIC FIELD MORE UNIFORM,
THE SMALLER THOSE PIXELS CAN BE.
THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND THE MODERN MRI SCANNER
IS PERFECT FOR MY TELEPORTATION SYSTEM.
WITH BIGGER MAGNETS SPREAD EVENLY OVER YOUR BODY
AND HIGHER-RESOLUTION SENSORS,
AN ADVANCED MRI SHOULD ONE DAY BE ABLE TO GENERATE
AN ATOMIC MAP OF A HUMAN BODY.
THE FIRST STAGE IN MY TELEPORTER DESIGN
IS A SCANNING PLATFORM
SET WITHIN A RING OF POWERFUL ELECTROMAGNETS.
TO PINPOINT INDIVIDUAL ATOMS, IT NEEDS A FIELD
MANY THOUSANDS OF TIMES GREATER THAN THE EARTH'S.
JUST LIKE SCOTTY'S DESIGN,
MY TELEPORTER WILL HAVE AN OVERHEAD DEVICE
PRODUCING PULSATING RADIO WAVES TO TURN ATOMS INTO DATA.
THE MACHINE COULD ACCURATELY SCAN MY BODY
DOWN TO THE ATOMIC LEVEL AND TURN IT INTO DATA,
BUT IT'S A LOT OF DATA.
I'M GOING TO ASSUME THAT IN THE FUTURE
ONE ATOM COULD BE DESCRIBED BY ONE COMPUTER BYTE,
A SINGLE 0 OR 1.
A STANDARD DVD CAN HOLD 40 BILLION BYTES,
BUT THAT MEANS TO HOLD THE ATOMIC MAP OF A SINGLE HUMAN,
I NEED ENOUGH DISKS TO HOLD 35 THOUSAND BILLION GIGABYTES.
THAT WOULD COMPLETELY FILL 3,978 EMPIRE STATE BUILDINGS.
HOW ON EARTH AM I GONNA TRANSMIT ALL THAT?
[ HORNS HONKING ]
I'M DESIGNING A TELEPORTER.
USING THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE MRI MACHINE,
I COULD TURN A HUMAN BODY INTO PURE DATA.
BUT GETTING ALL THE INFORMATION TO ITS DESTINATION
IS NOT GONNA BE SO EASY.
DATA IS SENT AROUND THE WORLD,
ALONG THOUSANDS OF MILES OF THIS STUFF.
THESE ARE OPTICAL FIBERS.
EACH CABLE CONTAINS A STEADY STREAM OF DIGITAL 0s AND 1s,
CREATED BY CHOPPING LASER PULSES INTO TINY BYTES.
LIGHT IS MADE OUT OF PHOTONS,
WHICH MOVE THROUGH THE AIR AND OPTICAL FIBERS IN WAVES.
EACH CYCLE OF THE WAVE UP AND DOWN
CAN CARRY A SINGLE BYTE OF INFORMATION.
SO THE SMALLER THE WAVE LENGTH AND THE FASTER IT VIBRATES,
THE MORE DATA CAN BE PACKED ONTO A BEAM.
LASER LIGHT CYCLES UP AND DOWN OVER A TRILLION TIMES A SECOND,
SO IT CAN CARRY A LOT OF DATA.
BUT EVEN WITH A MILLION BEAMS,
IT WOULD TAKE A YEAR TO TRANSPORT A HUMAN BEING'S DATA.
IT WOULD BE FASTER TO WALK.
MY TELEPORTER WILL BEAM A SET OF INSTRUCTIONS
SO THAT MY BODY CAN BE REBUILT AT ITS DESTINATION.
BUT TO PULL ITS WEIGHT
AS A GENUINE MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION,
I NEED A WAY TO TRANSPORT THOSE INSTRUCTIONS EXTREMELY FAST.
CARRYING INFORMATION ABOARD BEAMS OF LIGHT
IS NOT GONNA WORK FOR MY TELEPORTATION DESIGN.
THERE IS SIMPLY TOO MUCH DATA.
I NEED SOMETHING THAT VIBRATES EVEN FASTER,
AND THE ANSWER IS X-RAYS.
THEY HAVE A SHORTER WAVELENGTH THAN LIGHT WAVES,
SO I CAN PACK A MILLION TIMES MORE DATA ONTO EACH BEAM.
EVEN SO, TO GET THE TRANSFER DOWN TO A SECOND,
I'LL NEED 100 MILLION X-RAYS.
THAT WOULD MAKE A HUGE BEAM MANY FEET ACROSS.
BUT UNLIKE LIGHT,
I COULDN'T PASS THE X-RAYS DOWN OPTICAL FIBERS.
THEY'RE SO POWERFUL, THEY COULD LEAK OUT.
I NEED TO SEND THE X-RAYS UP INTO SPACE,
WHERE A NETWORK OF SATELLITES
WILL DIRECT THE BEAM TO ITS DESTINATION.
BUT THAT'S WHERE THE NEXT PROBLEM STARTS.
HOW WILL I TURN ALL THIS DATA BACK INTO A HUMAN BEING?
I BELIEVE TELEPORTATION IS POSSIBLE,
BUT I'VE GOT ONE MAJOR PROBLEM TO SOLVE --
HOW TO TURN A STAGGERING AMOUNT OF PURE DATA
INTO A LIVING, BREATHING PERSON.
WITH JUST A STOCKPILE OF ATOMS
AND A SET OF DIGITAL INSTRUCTIONS,
MY TELEPORTER MACHINE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FABRICATE ANY OBJECT.
SOMETHING LIKE THE REPLICATOR FROM "STAR TREK"
WOULD DO THE TRICK.
A MACHINE AS ADVANCED AS THAT
IS MAYBE ONLY A CENTURY OR SO AWAY.
FUTUROLOGIST MIKE TREDER
IS ALREADY THINKING ABOUT HOW IT MIGHT WORK.
WHETHER YOU CALL IT A NANOFACTORY
OR REPLICATOR OR A FABRICATOR -- COULD HAVE DIFFERENT NAMES --
THE IDEA IS THEY'LL BE ABLE TO ASSEMBLE THINGS ATOM BY ATOM
WITH MOLECULAR PRECISION.
IT SEEMS ALMOST CERTAIN
THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO CREATE COMPLETE LIVING ORGANISMS
AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, ALTHOUGH IT'S VERY CHALLENGING.
WE COULD GET AN IDEA OF HOW THIS MIGHT WORK
BY LOOKING AT ONE OF TODAY'S STATE-OF-THE-ART 3-D PRINTERS.
FIRST THE OBJECT TO BE ASSEMBLED IS SCANNED,
CREATING A 3-D DIGITAL IMAGE.
THE SYSTEM THEN BREAKS THIS COMPLEX DATA
INTO SIMPLE 2-D SLICES, WHICH IT SENDS
TO THE REPLICATOR-STYLE ASSEMBLY MACHINE.
THE DEVICE FABRICATES
AN ALMOST EXACT LIKENESS OF THE OBJECT, LAYER BY LAYER,
WITH ALMOST SURGICAL PRECISION.
NOW, THIS MACHINE OBVIOUSLY HAS NOT CREATED AN EXACT COPY OF ME.
THIS IS JUST A THREE-DIMENSIONAL REPRODUCTION OF MY FACE.
THINK OF IT AS A 3-D PHOTOGRAPH.
BUT IN THE FUTURE, USING SIMILAR PRINCIPLES,
IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO CREATE A LIVING, BREATHING COPY.
USING CUTTING-EDGE SCIENCE
AND A LITTLE BIT OF SCIENCE FICTION,
I THINK I'VE GOT THE DESIGN FOR A TRULY AWESOME TELEPORTER.
I WONDER WHAT THE SCI-FI FANS WILL THINK OF IT.
TODAY I'M GONNA PRESENT TO YOU
THE FIRST WORKABLE DESIGN FOR A TRANSPORTER.
AND WE'RE GONNA ANSWER THE QUESTION,
"WHEN ARE WE GONNA BE ABLE TO ZAP OUR MOLECULES
INTO OUTER SPACE?"
THE WORLD'S FIRST TELEPORTATION PASSENGER
STEPS INTO THE SCANNER.
IT'S MADE OF NONMAGNETIC MATERIALS
TO RESIST THE POWERFUL MAGNETS.
NOW PULSATING RADIO WAVES
START THE JOB OF CONVERTING ATOMS INTO PURE DATA,
35 THOUSAND BILLION GIGABYTES OF IT.
I NEED TO TRANSPORT THAT MOUNTAIN OF DATA
TO ITS DESTINATION.
YOU HAVE ABOUT 10 TO THE 25 ATOMS IN YOUR BODY.
NOW, AN ORDINARY LASER BEAM
CANNOT CARRY THAT AMOUNT OF INFORMATION.
INSTEAD, I PACK THE DATA ONTO A BEAM OF X-RAYS MANY FEET THICK
AND FIRE IT, STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW,
UP TO A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE ABOVE THE EARTH.
IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO INTERCEPT THIS BEAM
AND MAKE AN UNAUTHORIZED COPY OF THE PERSON.
SO I'VE ADDED AN ENCRYPTION DEVICE TO KEEP THE DATA SECURE.
NEXT THE BEAM IS SENT HURDLING AT A FABRICATOR STATION
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLANET.
THE DATA ARRIVES AND AN ADVANCED QUANTUM COMPUTER
STARTS THE BILLIONS OF COMPUTATIONS
NECESSARY TO OPEN UP THE INSTRUCTIONS.
IT HAS TO BE RECEIVED BY A COMPUTER
THAT CAN HANDLE THIS VAST AMOUNT OF INFORMATION.
NOW THE DATA'S UNRAVELED.
A MOLECULAR-ASSEMBLY MACHINE
BEGINS TO PIECE EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
THE SCANNER OPENS,
AND AN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT COPY OF OUR TELEPORTATION PIONEER
STEPS OUT, SAFE AND SOUND.
BUT THIS LEAVES US WITH ONE REMAINING PROBLEM
THAT COULD INSPIRE A SCIENCE-FICTION MOVIE
ALL OF ITS OWN.
THE BODY AT THE DEPARTURE POINT IS STILL THERE.
HE WAS ONLY SCANNED. HE WASN'T DISSOLVED.
THINGS COULD GET COMPLICATED IF TELEPORTATION REALLY TAKES OFF.
LUCKILY, WE'VE GOT AWHILE TO IRON OUT THAT LITTLE WRINKLE.
SO, THERE YOU HAVE IT.
IN THE NEXT FEW HUNDRED YEARS,
WE'LL BE ZAPPING OUR MOLECULES THROUGH SPACE.
IT'S REALLY INTERESTING. I REALLY DO SEE IT HAPPENING.
WE'RE GONNA SEE IT,
AND WE'RE GONNA SEE IT SOONER THAN WE THINK.
VOLUNTEER?
IF I CAN INTERVIEW MY DOUBLE BEFORE THEY KILL ME
[CHUCKLES] YEAH, I WOULD.
ONCE IT WAS PERFECTED, I WOULD DEFINITELY JUMP ON BOARD.
WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A SPARE OF ME HANGING AROUND,
BUT I DON'T KNOW.
I THINK ONE OF ME IS ENOUGH.
IT SOUNDS LIKE A RISKY BUSINESS TO ME.
I'D CERTAINLY WANT TO BE UNDER A SEDATIVE.
I'D LOVE TO TRY IT. I'M THE LAZIEST TRAVELER.
COULD IT WORK? YEAH.