Researchers at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have successfully teleported quantum data between two quantum bits separated by about 10 feet. The data was teleported in that it didn’t actually travel through the space between the two bits. It was sent from one point and arrived instantly at another.

This was done using the theory of quantum entanglement, which Albert Einstein believed to be impossible. Quantum entanglement is difficult to explain quickly but, in the simplest terms: The theory states that once two particles become entangled that they remain in instantaneous, real time communication regardless of the physical distance between them.

“Entanglement is arguably the strangest and most intriguing consequence of the laws of quantum mechanics. When two particles become entangled, their identities merge: their collective state is precisely determined but the individual identity of each of the particles has disappeared. The entangled particles behave as one, even when separated by a large distance. The distance in our tests was three meters, but in theory the particles could be on either side of the universe,” said Prof. Ronald Hanson, the head of the research project in a statement.

Moving a small amount of data 10 feet may not sound terribly exciting in real world terms, however the technological implication are substantial.

It could, for example, help to build a quantum internet. Currently many companies are trying to build ultra-fast and powerful quantum computers to solve complex problems and handle large amounts of data.  The ability to teleport data instantly across distances would help facilitate communication between these machines. A quantum internet would also be close to impossible to hack or monitor.

Quantum communication could also help considerably with space travel. Currently Mars One is planning to send the first colonists to the Red Planet in 2024. At the moment a conversation with someone on Mars would take a long time.

It would take 10-20 minutes for a transmission to reach Mars. The person making the call would then have to wait 20-40 minutes for the person they are calling to receive the message and for their response to reach Earth. A quick conversation between Earth and Mars could take several frustrating hours. Communication via quantum entanglement would be instantaneous.

This experiment does not mean that we can teleport people the way they do on Star Trek. However, when combined with other research and theories, successful quantum teleportation does open up new possibilities. Researchers at Imperial College London recently stated that they have found a way to turn light into matter. In Star Trek people were teleported by turning their bodies into a stream of information and then reassembling it in a different location.

Obviously, it is one thing to be able to use a collider to create a bit of matter from light and a very different thing to turn matter into light and then back into matter in the exact form of the original matter. It is worth noting however that the events of the original Star Trek series take place in the 23rd century, so who knows what scientists will discover over the next two hundred years?

Even if Star Trek like teleportation never happens there is another interesting possibility. Ray Kurzweil, futurist and Google’s director of engineering, believes that by 2040 humans will be able to upload their brains to computers. Additionally he believes that, by 2090, it will be possible to download those minds into humanoid robots.

If Kurzweil is correct then it may be possible to use quantum communication to transport a mind into a body, even if it is not possible to transport the body itself. For example, if you wanted to travel to Mars or another destination in space, it would be possible to send a ship with a robot body on board. Instead of spending months in a capsule waiting to reach your destination, a body could be sent ahead and the mind could be sent once it had safely reached its destination.

The new research from the Netherlands does not mean that it is possible to teleport people from one location to another, but it does raise interesting possibilities for the distant future.

The next step for Hanson and his team will come this summer when they will attempt to repeat the experiment over a distance of 1300 meters (more than 4,200 feet). A number of research groups, including Hanson’s, are currently rushing to be the first to prove that Einstein was wrong about quantum entanglement. The results from the Delft University team were published in the May 29 edition of the journal Science.