There are still massive hurdles for using optical fibre networks for quantum information transmission. The biggest lies in attenuation, where information is lost as the optical signal traverses the fibre. This is an exponential decay, so the signal is lost very quickly for longer distances. This is also the case for normal fibre communication, but these signals can be amplified using conventional amplifiers (aka repeaters in some fields), which are conveniently placed every 80 km or so in order to boost the signal. In contrast, quantum states can not be amplified in a similar manner and have to rely on quantum repeaters which, well, are more of a theoretical concept at this point in time.

So, while the specialized equipment you refer to is indeed needed at both ends, the real challenge still lies in the quantum repeaters. Fortunately, satellite based communication is not as heavily punished by attenuation and would require fewer repeating steps (as compared to fibres) to transmit a quantum state from one end of the globe to the other. A handful of few repetition steps is a lot less daunting then the several hundreds that would be required for globe-scale quantum transmissions via fibre.

Quantum physicist here. Your idea is effectively correct, but the issue lies in generating entanglement at a distance, which is a gargantuan task. You can’t start with two qubits (in the current discussion the photons are qubits, holders of quantum information) and simply proclaim them to be entangled over long distances (even centimeters can be considered long in the quantum realm). One of the more promising methods to achieve entanglement at a distance is to create entangled photons locally in your friendly neighborhood lab, and send them on their merry way. Photons are incredibly good at travelling far. When they have reached their destination you are free to do the next complicated part, the ‘spooky action at a distance’ as you call it ;) I just call it magic.

The two standardized method of sending photons over earthly distances is either a) via air (e.g., lasers, radiowaves or satellite communication) or b) via fibre optics. Since the fibre optics network is so developed across the globe, quantum information engineers would love to tap into that infrastructure - which is the main motivation for the work done in the main article. Here, they proved that the entanglement survives the journey through the optical cable, which was expected (but not a given) for short distances. Entanglement is sensitive business and is lost very easily. 30 km of travel through an optical cable can be considered very, very long based on these premises - but also around the upper limit of what can be achieved without significant advances of quantum repeaters which replaces the functionality of amplifiers in traditional optical fibre networks.

We discussed this at work today (physicist here). Essentially the related paper(s) are based on data fits that could indicate functioning, although really shitty, qubits.

Looking at the fitted data I’d wager they might just as well have fitted noise. Really not convincing at all.

Most of academia had already abandoned majorana qubits, so this claim by Microsoft really caught people off guard - and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - something Microsoft lacks.

Ah, now I understand!

That is a great point. It’s indeed really tricky to e.g., build a modern pc without American owned semiconductor companies when it comes to processors and graphic cards. There’s like… British ARM processors which isn’t really suited for most applications.

Awesome! 🙂

Perhaps it’s me who is in a bubble IRL!

Even if the economic impact turns out to be negligible it is clear to me that the movement is born out of a change in mentality, which I’d argue is even more important then the monetary impact.

This sounds great. But if you didn’t buy anything in the first place there’s also zero effect of boycotting. Then the movement can of course succeed quite easily, but at no net gain.

I feel like you tried to dodge the elephant in the room: the tech. The hardest part to get rid of is the technology, and in particularly the tech stack. Social media, servers, windows, outlook… The dependency is real at all levels, and I’ve yet to hear of any company trying to escape. This is also where I believe the boycott will fail at an consumer level, people will keep using META, stream from Netflix, order from Amazon etc. Since people are still using these, so will our companies and politicians.

Oh I do believe in this one! My response was rather eurocentric, I realize that now. The Canadians are even more hurt as it stands right now, and their response is incredible.

Perhaps I’ll see a greater response in my own community when the pointless tariffs also hit EU. Currently people are plenty pissed about US aligning themselves with Russia. It won’t take too much to ignite it further.

I do hope that I’m proven wrong, and that the boycott US movement is doing better than I thought 🙂

Oh that’s great though. I really do hope that I’m proven wrong 😊

I fully support this movement, but I expect it’s mainly an echo bubble and will remain as such. Leave the fediverse and subreddits and most people won’t even care.