The dream of teleporting atoms and molecules — and maybe even larger objects — has become a real possibility for the first time. The advance is thanks to physicists who have suggested a method that in theory could be used to “entangle” absolutely any kind of particle.
Quantum entanglement is the bizarre property that allows two particles to behave as one, no matter how far apart they are. Until now, physicists have only been able to entangle photons, electrons and atoms, using different methods in each case. But scientists at the University of Oxford and Bose Institute in Calcutta have now demonstrated a single mechanism that could be used to entangle any particles, even atoms or large molecules from independent sources and that are not already entangled.

Entangling massive particles would mean they could then be used for quantum cryptography, computing and even teleportation.