Jack thought about what he could say.
I am convinced it is real, and I have to convince him. Should I just tell him the science used in the movie?
“Sir, in the movie, they use a machine called the transporter. It breaks down the energy pattern of a person, which they call dematerialisation. And make him or her rematerialise in another place. They also use the term ‘beam’, which I believe could be a way of saying that the body gets converted into energy, which is then shot as a beam. And it is then put back together at the target location. This process takes only a few seconds to complete,” began Jack. “The idea of teleportation has always fascinated me, and I started to explore how I could translate fiction into reality.”
“In 1993, a team of scientists published a report through the American Physical society on this very subject. The abstract of the report says that, ‘An unknown quantum state can be disassembled into, then later reconstructed from, purely classical information and purely non-classical Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations. To do so the sender, ‘‘Alice,’’ and the receiver, ‘‘Bob,’’ must prearrange the sharing of an EPR-correlated pair of particles. Alice makes a joint measurement on her EPR particle and the unknown quantum system, and sends Bob the classical result of this measurement. Knowing this, Bob can convert the state of his EPR particle into an exact replica of the unknown state which Alice destroyed’,” he explained.
“So, I took this theory from the movie and the report, and applied it to our real world scenario. That meant making the numbers match on a quantum level. This doesn’t involve the transport of matter, but photons or, if we can manage, atoms. It is theoretically possible, but we need the same set-up at the target location as well. The photons will be entangled and sent. And reassembled there. To clarify, we will not be able to send bodily objects or persons. They will have to be dematerialised and rematerialized. However, we need to start at the smallest level. Once the experiment with the photons is successful, we can start with other objects. Starting from a small, inorganic and inanimate object, to invertebrates, and finally, humans or big shipments,” he added.
Dr Kruger went over Jack’s notes for a minute, and without looking up, said, “So, what you mean to tell me is that this will have potential financial benefits?”
Jack mentally kicked himself for not having lead with that, but he looked at Dr Kruger, who was smiling at him, and realised that somehow, he had managed to impress the senior scientist. “Uh, yes, sir. If…when it is successful, it can be marketed and it will bring about a transformational shift in the field of logistics and transport,” he answered. “Very good. You may submit your application to HR along with whatever credentials they ask for. You will also be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement with us in addition. Other than that, the credit for any work you do will be yours alone.” He stood up and shook Jack’s hand, “Welcome to Krugar Science labs.”
Back in the present, Jack smiled a little, remembering that interview. How full of hope and energy he had been. He had made considerable success too, he could say that safely, without bragging. He had managed to send the photons to up to 150 kilometres, but after that they had degenerated without reaching their destination at all. He didn’t lose heart at first. Certain that he had made an error in the calculations, he began the work all over again.
The experiment wouldn’t work even if the error had been tiny. So, he combed through all the calculations and got them double-checked by his colleagues. He tried again, after six months, but even that attempt, and all the ones following that, failed.
The week before last, Jack had heard about Micius, a photon which the Chinese teleported from earth to a satellite, 500 kilometres away. He had been viciously angry at himself when he read this news. The Chinese had succeeded where he had failed. Jack felt terribly ashamed and angry and threw himself back into his work with a vengeance. Additionally, his other line of research on dark energy in space was also at a dead end, since both of them were interconnected. He couldn’t make progress in one without making progress in another.
It was a catch-22 situation and he could see no end in sight.
Walking Through a Vanishing Landscape
There is the prehistoric geological landscape.
There are centuries-old fishing communities.
There is the Portuguese military presence.
There are later transformations under British and Indian rule.
And now there is the rapidly expanding Mumbai metropolitan region.
All these histories occupy the same landscape.
The challenge is making sure the newest layer does not completely erase the oldest.
As the monsoon waves continue to hit the coast and modern Vasai continues to expand, these forgotten basalt walls remain silent witnesses.
They remind us that Mumbai’s history does not end at its famous landmarks.
Sometimes the most fascinating stories are hidden behind the last building, beyond the paved road and beneath the monsoon vegetation.
And perhaps the real adventure is not simply discovering a forgotten fort.
It is discovering **the forgotten history of the landscape itself.**
