Our internet has aphysical infrastructure : K of mile of cables that criss - cross the sea . The quantum internet , when it exist , will have a physical infrastructure , too . But you ca n’t send quantum bits , “ qubits , ” on fiber optic cables , so a radical of physicists has propose a bizarre solution : cargo ships carrying data on diamond - based campaign . And it ’s not a completely whacky idea .
There are myriad reasonableness we do not yet have a quantum cyberspace , but one of them is that we ca n’t send quantum information over long distances . metropolis - wide networks are being built , but they only cover distances of 100 miles or less .
To get construct larger quantum electronic connection , we ’ll needed devices yell quantum repeaters to supercharge the signal . But human beings , those matter are tricky to build . For one , asTech Review mark , they have to be kept close to absolute zero . well luck progress a super - fridge at the bottom of the Pacific sea .
Instead , a group of physicists arguewe should take a page from the sneakernet , aka transferring data on physical disks and drives . Massive container ships could cross our ocean carrying adamant - based tough drives , which are especially stable . Shipping might seem agonizingly tiresome for everyone used to instant Netflix picture , but the quantum net will also be completely secure due to the law of aperient . in any case , cargo ships are vast . A ship carrying 10,000 containers worth of quantum routine that crosses the sea between Japan and the U.S. would still do out to a data point transfer of up to 1 terabyte per second .
Obviously , this is all a theoretical exercise , but it highlights a logical and important trouble f0r the quantum internet . The internet , quantum or not , is n’t just information magically appearing on our screen , but forcible structure that have to be design , make , and maintained . [ Tech Review ]
Top image : AlexKol Photography / shutterstock
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