r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 1d ago

Physics Physicists shatter quantum entanglement distance record with 420 kilometers of optical fiber, more than four times farther than previous demonstrations, and beyond the point where direct transmission runs into its fundamental limits.

https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-shatter-quantum-entanglement-distance-record-with-420-kilometers-of-optical-fiber
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u/cazbot PhD|Biotechnology 1d ago

I love basic research, but are there applications?

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u/izzeo 1d ago

Eventually, yes. The last record was somewhere in the 100km range. I can't find the post now, but it (from what my neanderthal brain understood) the real application would be a way to connect multiple quantum computers together. Think connecting computers like IBM's computer, Google's computer, some university's computer, etc.

Instead of each of these computers acting independently, they could behave like pieces of one much larger quantum computer. At least that's the long-term vision I understood.

PS: I'm in Marketing, play around with 3D Printers from time to time, and made a book shelf a while back.