Teleportation: Science Fiction or Fact?

Science Fiction or Fact: Will Teleporters Ever Beam Us Up?

By: Adam Hadhazy, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor

Date: 16 June 2012 Time: 12:41 AM ET

Beats taking the subway. Starfleet officers beam to their destination via the USS Enterprise's transporter on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." CREDIT: Paramount Television View full size image

 


In this weekly series, Life's Little Mysteries rates the plausibility of popular science fiction concepts.
Want to get from here to there in an instant, even if "there" is miles and miles away? If some science fiction tales have it right, all you'll have to do is flip a switch and presto, you will teleport to your destination.
Perhaps the most famous example of teleportation technology is the transporter on the TV show "Star Trek." The original series' creators devised this shimmery special effect because they didn't have the budget to show a spaceship landing on various planets.
Any chance you will "beaming" up or down anytime soon? Scientifically speaking, teleportation faces some extreme obstacles, ones that even the redoubtable Montgomery Scott would find trouble working around.

MORE: http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2581-science-fiction-fact-teleporters-beam.html

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