Can the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" become a reality? Quantum mechanics suggests it can... and soon.

Since the invention of the "cybernet" - a word coined by a science fiction writer - the boundaries between "science" and "science fiction" have become increasingly blurred. Now, the new field of quantum mechanics promises that some of humanity's wildest dreams can be realized. Serious scientists, studying theories first developed by Einstein and his colleagues seventy years ago, are investigating the phenomenon known as "entanglement," one of the strangest aspects of the strange universe of quantum mechanics.

According to Einstein, quantum theory required entanglement - the idea that subatomic particles could be inseparably connected, and that a change in one such particle would be immediately reflected in its counterpart, even if they were separated by an entire universe. Einstein believed that if quantum theory could produce such bizarre phenomena, then it must be invalid. But new experiments in both the United States and Europe show not only that it does indeed happen, but that it can lead to unbreakable codes, and even teleportation...