I just saw an interesting (factual) article that says it will soon be
possible to construct wormholes here on Earth to help unravel some of
the most fundamental mysteries of the universe.

https://phys.org/news/2023-03-counterportation-quantum-breakthrough-paves-world-first.html

I'm not a physicist but it looks to me like the whole idea of
instantaneous transportation from Point A to Point B - and instantaneous
communications between those same points - is getting very close to
being realized. Assuming these things are actually possible (and are
instantaneous rather than taking long periods of time), any number of
profoundly transformational things may be possible:

- visit exo-planets (Earth-like planets) without having to spend
decades, centuries or millenia getting there
- establish outposts that could grow into cities on distant planets
- maintain communications with those outposts without having to wait
decades, centuries or millenia for messages to get back and forth

These things have been the stuff of science fiction for decades but it's
beginning to look like they may become science fact sooner than most
people ever expected.

--
Rhino

On 3/14/2023 11:42 AM, Rhino wrote:
> I just saw an interesting (factual) article that says it will soon be
> possible to construct wormholes here on Earth to help unravel some of
> the most fundamental mysteries of the universe.
>
> https://phys.org/news/2023-03-counterportation-quantum-breakthrough-paves-world-first.html
>
> I'm not a physicist but it looks to me like the whole idea of
> instantaneous transportation from Point A to Point B - and instantaneous
> communications between those same points - is getting very close to
> being realized. Assuming these things are actually possible (and are
> instantaneous rather than taking long periods of time), any number of
> profoundly transformational things may be possible:
>
> - visit exo-planets (Earth-like planets) without having to spend
> decades, centuries or millenia getting there
> - establish outposts that could grow into cities on distant planets
> - maintain communications with those outposts without having to wait
> decades, centuries or millenia for messages to get back and forth
>
> These things have been the stuff of science fiction for decades but it's
> beginning to look like they may become science fact sooner than most
> people ever expected.

This sentence's last words, however, might give a traveler pause...

"This holds true even for quantum teleportation, which, "Star Trek"
aside, transfers complete information about a small object, allowing it
to be reconstituted elsewhere, so it is indistinguishable in any
meaningful way from the original, which disintegrates."