For a while now everybody is talking about this century as being the age of speed, but most of us don’t even begin to imagine how fast technology is evolving.

Who would have thought even a year and a half ago that we would be able to use a table in order to plan a project; or split a bill in the restaurant; or even share photos between devices; or plan a trip. Microsoft Surface is able to do this and much more.

Microsoft Surface

At the same time who would have imagined that we are this close to discovering teleportation?

According to LiveScience, a team of scientists from the University of Maryland have come pretty close to achieving Star Trek’s main way of transportation: teleportation. So far they achieved to transport the information from one atom to another across a distance of a meter.

The JQI team explains that teleportation works because of a remarkable quantum phenomenon called entanglement that only occurs on an atomic or subatomic scale.

The experiment that they conducted uses two identical ions (A and B). Ion A is afterwards irradiated; a process that can be explained as “writing in its memory the information that will be teleported”. Immediately after, both ions are “excited by a picosecond laser pulse” in order for each of them to emit a photon.

The photons are then captured by a lens and they will interact at a beamsplitter. When both detectors recorded a photon simultaneously, the ions are entangled. At that point, ion A is measured, revealing exactly what operation has to be performed on ion B to teleport ion A’s information (see illustration).

It is important to note that the information disappears from ion A when this one is being measured and appears on ion B. This is why the achievement is distinguished from any other kind of communication and is classified as teleportation.

You can find out more about this achievement in the original article from LiveScience: “Teleportation Milestone Achieved”

A 50% grant is available under this fund to Irish companies that wish to explore opportunities to internationalise their business. This Going Global Fund is available from Enterprise Ireland.

Who is fund available to?

The Going Global Fund is available to companies that meet the following conditions:

1. engage in an eligible service activity or manufacture in the Republic of Ireland.
2. have ten employees and/or annual turnover > €1m.

The maximum support is €50,000 grant at 50% of eligible costs. The next closing date for applications is Friday, 10th April 2009.

For more information.

The proof is in the tangible benefits a brand provides, but winning awards is always a nice endorsement of the work. Off the back of the Innovation by Design programme, the Institute of Technology Sligo chose Design Factory to rebrand the college, and the work was just recognised by getting shortlisted for the IDI Design Awards 2008.