BERLIN, GERMANY - Physicists in Germany have announced a major breakthrough in quantum physics, successfully performing a stable quantum teleportation of information over a significant distance.
In a first-of-its-kind experiment, the team teleported a qubit (the basic unit of quantum information) between two separate computer chips connected by 44 kilometers (27 miles) of fiber optic cable.
Crucially, the team reports the connection was not only successful but maintained "high fidelity" and remained "stable," overcoming the two biggest obstacles to building a practical quantum network. The achievement is being hailed as a true "quantum leap" toward the construction of an absolutely secure, city-scale quantum internet.
From Fragile Theory to Stable Reality
Quantum teleportation is not the "Star Trek" teleportation of matter. Instead, it is the transfer of information—a particle's exact quantum state from one location to another, without that information crossing the physical space in between.
This is achieved via a phenomenon called quantum entanglement.
The primary challenge in this field has always been "decoherence" the fact that quantum states are incredibly fragile. Any tiny noise or interference from the outside world can cause the information to "collapse," destroying the qubit.
This is what makes the German team's success so significant. Achieving a "high-fidelity" link (meaning the teleported qubit at the destination was an extremely accurate copy of the original) that remained "stable" over a 44km fiber optic line proves that quantum information can be reliably transmitted over metropolitan-scale distances using existing infrastructure.
Building the Unhackable Internet
This breakthrough is not just an academic curiosity; it is the backbone of the next generation of global communication.
A "quantum internet" built on this technology would be absolutely secure and unhackable.
In a classical network, a hacker can copy data packets without the sender or receiver ever knowing. In a quantum network, this is impossible. Due to the laws of quantum mechanics, the very act of trying to intercept or "read" a qubit would instantly alter its state and destroy the information, immediately alerting the sender and receiver that the line had been compromised.
While a global quantum internet is still years away, this successful 44km teleportation is one of the most important building blocks to date. It moves the concept from a physics-lab curiosity to a tangible engineering reality, paving the way for secure quantum communication networks between cities, banks, and governments.
