Achy back? Give yoga a go. Multiple studies have shown the power of the ancient practice, which emphasizes stretching, strength, and flexibility, to relieve back soreness. In fact, yoga even trumped usual care in a study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. When researchers followed 300 people with lower back pain for more than a year, they found that the half who were randomly assigned to do yoga reported better back function (although similar levels of pain) throughout the course of the study.
Another recent University of Washington study found that people who took yoga or stretching classes were twice as likely to cut back on pain medications for their back aches as people who managed symptoms on their own.
While yoga isn’t a good idea if you have severe pain, those with occasional soreness or chronic aches may greatly benefit from certain postures that can help lengthen your spine, stretch and strengthen your muscles, and return your back to its proper alignment, says Everyday Health fitness expert Jennifer Bayliss, ATC, CSCS. (You’ll reap these other health perks of yoga too.)
It’s always a good idea to ask your doctor before starting a new fitness regimen, especially if you’re prone to pain. Once you get the green light, try these seven soothing poses for back pain. You can do these poses in any order. Gradually increase the intensity by holding them for longer amounts of time.
Downward-facing Dog (POSE 1)
This classic yoga pose is a great total body stretch that targets back extensors, or the large muscles that help form your lower back, support your spine, and help you stand and lift objects. Try it: Start on your hands and knees, with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders. Pressing back, raise your knees away from the floor and lift your tailbone up toward the ceiling. For an added hamstring stretch, gently push your heels toward the floor. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, and repeat the pose five to seven times.
Child's Pose (POSE 2)
It may look like you’re resting, but child’s pose is an active stretch that helps elongate the back. It’s also a great de-stressor before bed at the end of a long, exhausting day. Try it: Start on all fours with your arms stretched out straight in front of you, then sit back so your glutes (butt muscles) come to rest just above — but not touching — your heels. Hold the position for 5 to10 breaths, and repeat as many times as needed for a good, soothing stretch.
Pigeon Pose (POSE 3)
Pigeon pose, which can be a little challenging for yoga newbies, stretches hip rotators and flexors. It might not seem like the most obvious position to treat a back ache, but tight hips can contribute to lower back pain. Try it: Start in downward-facing dog with your feet together. Then draw your left knee forward and turn it out to the left so your left leg is bent and near-perpendicular to your right one; lower both legs to the ground. You can simply keep your back right leg extended straight behind you, or for an added hamstring stretch — seasoned pigeon posers, only! — carefully pull your back foot off the ground and in toward your back. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, then switch to the other side, and repeat as needed.
Triangle Pose (POSE 4)
Triangle pose is great for strengthening the back and legs and can help lengthen your muscles along the sides of your torso while stretching the muscle fibers along your outer hip (your IT, or iliotibial, band). Try it: Start standing straight with your feet together. Next, lunge your left foot back three to four feet, and point your left foot out at a 45-degree angle. Turn your chest to the side and open up the pose by stretching your right arm toward the ground and the left arm toward the ceiling, keeping both your right and left legs straight. You may not be able to touch the ground with your right arm at first, so don’t over-stretch — only bend as far as you can while maintaining a straight back. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, then switch to the other side, and repeat as needed.
Cat and Cow Pose (POSE 5)
The perfect poses for an achy, sore back, cow and cat stretches loosen back muscles, whether as part of a yoga routine or as a warm-up for another workout. Try it: Starting in an all-fours position, move into cat pose by slowly pressing your spine up, arching your back. Hold for a few seconds and then move to cow (pictured at left) by scooping your spine in, pressing your shoulder blades back and lifting your head. Moving back and forth from cat to cow helps move your spine onto a neutral position, relaxing the muscles and easing tension.
Repeat 10 times, flowing smoothly from cat into cow, and cow back into cat. Repeat the sequence as needed.
Forward Fold (POSE 6)
Sometimes called a forward fold, the upward forward bend stretches the hamstrings and back muscles while providing a release for tight, tense shoulders. Try it: Stand straight with feet shoulder-width apart, and your knees loose, not locked. While you exhale, hinge at your waist and bend forward, reaching toward the floor. Don’t worry if you can’t reach all the way to the floor at first; just stop wherever your hamstrings feel a comfortable stretch. Repeat the pose five to seven times. On the last bend hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths
Upward-Facing Dog (POSE 7)
Cobra works to open up your chest, stretch your abdominal muscles, and engage your back. Try it: Start lying flat on the floor with your palms facedown by the middle of your ribs. While drawing your legs together and pressing the tops of your feet into the floor, use the strength of your back, not your hands, to lift your chest off the floor. Leave your legs extended straight out at first. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, and repeat as needed.
Shani Shingnapur village near Shirdi is a very interesting place - all houses and buildings here are without any doors. The residents are devotee of Shani God and believes that he protects them. Shani Shingnapur village in Maharashtra (70 km from Shirdi, 90 km from Aurangabad) is one of the most popular pilgrim sites in the country. The presiding deity here is Shanideva, the personification of the planet Saturn. Thousands throng here everyday to pay their respects to the Lord.
However, what makes this village so unique is the fact that no houses have doors and windows. They don’t use locks to protect their valuables either. This strange belief of the residents is based on the unshakable belief that Lord Shanideva himself keeps an eye on their money. People are discouraged from using normal safety mechanisms like latches, windows and doors.
No Robbery in 150years:- Villagers claim that there has never been a theft or robbery here in the last 150 years. The ones who attempt a robbery are punished by the deity in one way or the other. Either they go blind or some misfortune befalls them. Items stolen always return to their rightful owner in some way or the other.
Legend behind this story As the legend goes, years ago a black rock was found among the debris brought by a violent flood. Its mysterious texture and appearance surprised villagers. What was more shocking was that blood oozed out of the rock when poked and probed with sticks. They were mystified by its texture and overall look and were even more surprised to find that the rock bled after being poked and probed with sticks. Fear transformed into wonder when people started having dreams that connected the rock to Lord Shani. In these dreams, instructions were given to build an open-roof shrine for the deity. For most tourists, this temple is a holy pilgrimage. For others, visiting a village with no doors and windows is a unique experience. In either case, it figures on the list of must-see places in India.
In today’s scientific world, the inexplicable events of God Shani in Shingnapur in Maharashtra state of India leave his devotees bewildered. No matter how much staunch an atheist one is, in the presence of Shani, one’s head automatically bows in reverence. Though there are many sacred places in Maharashtra devoted to God Shani, Shingnapur holds a unique significance. Shingnapur is situated on the Pune-Aurangabad Highway, about 70 kms far from Shirdi. Its unusual qualities make it a distinct place of pilgrimage any where in the world; one can realize it only after a personal visit. Over here women are not allowed to worship the deity. Women are not allowed to touch the deity but they can have darshan from some distance. God without a dwelling: The swayambhu (natural-formed) idol of Lord Shani is of a natural black color. Standing eternally open on an altar for around 150 years, it is 5'-9" high and 1'-6" broad. Lord Shani never accepts any chhatra (shelter). This abode of Shani Dev is a massive roofless structure built on a square platform. It is open from all sides. This can well be witnessed as even in hot sun, whirlwind, rain, heat or cold, whatever the weather the deity stands here without a shelter. Many people in the past and even in the present have tried to raise a temple for the deity but in vain. "Lord Shani has invariably appeared in the dreams telling them, ‘I do not need any shelter’. He prefers to stay in the open and protects his devotees", believes a member of the Trust. It is an irony that even though Shingnapur is a very popular and important place of pilgrimage, it has to date no temple to house the unusual deity and to enhance its beauty. Village having houses without doors: Shingnapur, a sleepy village of around 3000 people, has no doors and no glass panes on the windows of the local houses. One uses either wooden planks or curtains on the doors just to ward off stray animals. The practice of bolting or locking the houses is conspicuous by its absence. And this all is reportedly done at the "command of Lord Shani". No theft ever occurs here, as the Lord Shani, the guardian deity of the village is always there to mete out instant punishment” so claim the residents of Shani-Shinganapur and this claim has become its claim to fame. As per the villagers: "We don’t find this practice strange anyway. We have been doing it for thousands of years. We keep our money and valuables in a bag or a box; they are never stolen. Even the devotees who come here for darshan are told not to lock their vehicles. There are no thieves. If anyone steals he will have to pay for his misdeed by the miracle of God Shani."
Faith and fear have a unique manifestation in Kendrapada's Sialia village. The houses in this coastal village do not have any doors nor locks. This fact is true to even the primary school and anganwadi centre built last year. The 1200 people living in Sialia fix only door frames but no doors. Even their safety lockers does not have lock because they believe that the village deity, Ma Kharakhai, guards the houses. So strong is the faith that no one attempts theft for fear of incurring the goddess's wrath upon himself and his family.
Villagers claim that there has been no theft in the village since the deity's temple was built in the village 250 years ago. "We depend upon the villagers to prevent crimes and so avoid using doors, windows and even locks," said Babaji Nayak, a villager. Many families also go away on pilgrimages but their possessions are always safe, said Sarat Sahoo, a villager. But the absence doors leads to some problems. Cats and dogs and sometimes cattle stray into the houses. At times, a small moveable partition is positioned across the opening to prevent bigger animals from entering the houses but cats can easily enter, said Banshidhar Sethi, another villager. "Whenever someone has attempted to build doors, calamity has befallen them. About 50 years ago, Jadunath Sahoo, a trader constructed a house with doors ignoring the village tradition. Soon a crocodile killed him while he was bathing in the river," Satrughan Jena , a villager, who is in his 80s.
Shani Shingnapur, also known as Sonai, is a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated in Nevasa taluka in Ahmadnagar district, the village is known for its popular temple of Shani, the Hindu god of the planet (graha) Saturn.
Shani Shingnapur Temple Shingnapur is also famous for the fact that no house in the village has doors, only door frames. Despite this, no theft is reported in the village. Villagers never keep their valuables under lock and key. Legend says that the temple is a “jagrut devasthan” (lit. “alive temple”), meaning that the god here is very powerful. They believe that god Shani punishes anyone attempting theft. Devotees, pilgrims and tourists arriving in Sonai can leave their valuables in a car or bus with all the doors unlocked and not worry about anyone stealing it. The only barrier to enter a house are curtains which keep out stray animals. People believe that nobody dares to steal anything because they are punished by Shanishwara, the local deity, and the owner has always got the stolen things back – if any such thing ever happens.
The village has a post office and a high school known as Shri Shanishwar Vidya Mandir besides the primary schools run by the Zilla Parishad. The chief source of water supply in the villages is wells. Shrine of Shani The shrine for Shani compromises of a five and a half feet high black rock installed on an open-air platform, which symbolizes the god Shani. A Trishula (trident) is placed along the side of the image and a Nandi (bull) image is on the south side. In front are the small images of Shiva and Hanuman.
Unique Features of Shinganapur:
1. No shelter over Shani Maharaj - As per the instructions received from Shani Maharaj himself, there is no roof or temple built over his idol.
2. No doors or locks in houses - The most unique feature in Shingnapur that differentiated this village from any other place in the world is that there are no doors or locks to houses. The villagers firmly believe that Shani Maharaj protects them from thieves and wrong doers and they only have door frames and curtains in the place of doors and locks. There are several stories narrated by local villagers about how nobody in the village would dare to make an attempt to steal other's property and also about how when some outsiders have made an attempt to steal they have been punished by Shani Maharaj.
Only curtains in place of doors in Shingnapur Photo Courtesy: Travel Sulekha
3. No branches grow over the Moolasthan - There was a neem tree that grew near the Moolasthan but everytime a branch grew near Shani Maharaj it would automatically break and fall down. Few years ago, this tree fell and another fig tree has grown there. This too does not extend its branches upto the idol.
4. Water poured over the idol is cure for snakebite - In case of any incident of snakebite in the village, all that the villagers do is to bring the person in white clothes to the temple. A male relative in wet clothes performes abhishekam to the idol and the water is given to the person to drink. In a couple of hours, the person regains consciousness and is not affected by the poison.
5. Shani Maharaj's palanquin- Devotees worship Shani Maharaj's palanquin placed closed to the Moolasthan which has a huge wooden slipper in it. Several shops sell miniatures of this wooden slipper that people buy and take home as talisman.
6. Lamp that burns 24*7 - There is a lamp that burns through day and night in front of the moolasthan.
The temple also has the Samadhi of Udasi Baba who stayed in Shingnapur for many years and worshipped Shani Maharaj.
Some facts about Shani Shingnapur 1. The idol is out in the open, as the Lord made it clear in various ways to his devotees, that He did not want to be covered. 2. The temple is open for everyone twenty-four hours. Even at night, men (women are not allowed near the deity) can bring the puja material and perform all prayers by themselves. 3. No house / shop in the village has doors. It’s believed that the deity protects them and if someone tries to steal or do something wrong, they would be paralysed.
Contact Details :
Shri Shanaishwar Devasthan Shani Shinganapur, Sonai Post, Newasa Taluk, Ahmednagar Dist Maharashtra - 414105 India.
Getting There Road Shani Shingnapur is 350km from Mumbai and to reach there it’s best to hire a taxi from Mumbai. Long-distace cabbies from Mumbai take about 7 hours to reach Shani Shingnapur. Although there are MSTC (Maharashtra State Transport Corp) buses from Mumbai to Shirdi (60 km from Shani Shingnapur) and privatly-operated buses as well, locals advise not to attempt the bumpy, shaky ride on the MSTC buses, nor the long, frequent-stopping private buses. Air The nearest airport is Aurangabad (144 Km) which is connected by Indian Airlines and private airlines with other cities/towns. Rail Trains from Mumbai leave for Nasik (123Km) and Manmad (60Km).
Here’s a list of most mysterious places in the world that people still keep asking about how is it happen or what’s going on in the region. Some of these places even become tourist attraction such as Easter Island and Stonehenge. So let’s take a look at those most mysterious places in the world 5. Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a mysterious stone Monument in the county of Upshur in England. No one knows what is the purpose of this Stonehenge, whether it’s a court, or place of worship, or temple, or perhaps a sign of a UFO?
Stonehenge
4. Xinjian
In this city, there is neglected area called “Moguicheng” or the city of Demon. Several castles in Moguicheng generate strange noises that are not clear where’s it from. If you approach this city of demon on a hot day with little breeze, you will listen to the rhythm of sweet, like 10 million or 10 million small bell guitar playing together beautifully. But if the winds came, then the resulting sound will be like a roaring lion, crying babies or the howling of wolves.
Moguicheng, Xinjiang
3. The Bermuda Triangle
In the northwest of Atlantic ocean, lies the Bermuda Triangle. Within this triangle there are 7 large islands and 150 smaller islands which are really just clusters of coral. This triangle is also known as the triangle of evil – all high-tech equipment and all navigation equipment is not working properly in this place. Often even the communication with the world outside of this triangle has a problem. No one knows why and how to prevent this.
The Bermuda Triangle
2. Egypt
Egypt is one of the most mysterious and magical places on the planet. Located in North Africa, this country has more than 80 pyramids which spread along the Nile river. Each of the pyramids is around 100 meters high, made of giant stones weighing up to 100 tons each. Until now legends about the pyramids are still inviting new gossip, new myths and beliefs that still emerged. Among all of the pyramids, the Pyramid of Cheops is the highest. All of the pyramid was built only with stones piled one above the other stone. There’s no glue, nails or any adhesive found to be used in the manufacture of the pyramid. All the stones fit together somehow, so it is very difficult to find any cracks or gaps. Issues concerning the construction techniques used are also still unanswered to this day. So if you are indeed looking for mysteries, the Pyramids of Egypt will be a mystery to you all.
Pyramids of Egypt
1. Easter Island This island lies between Tahiti and Chile, and gained international popularity because of remarkable colossal statues shaped the human face. Each statue is 14 feet tall (about 4 meters), weighed 75 tonnes, made of volcanic stone, and represents the work of Rapa Nui society. Until now, It’s unknown how the statue was made by primitive technology owned by the society. There are various theories about the origin of the statue and its meaning, including one of them is fantastic theory which says that the statue was made by a UFO. But, until now the truth of all the existing theory has not been revealed.
Less sobbing in the US trailer of Hachiko. I guess it's because teh story isn't as well-known as in Japan. But I'm sure that people will moved by Hachiko A Dog's Tale.
Here below a few official posters of Hachiko A Dog's Tale, aka Hachi:
So much affection between the Akita dog Hachi and his master (Richard Gere)!
Actor Richard Gere's interest in Asia is not limited to Buddhism and to the Dalai Lama: he's also been touched by the story of Hachiko, a dog of breed Akita who lived in Japan more than half a century ago and who rose to fame because of his unconditional love for his owner. Gere has been so moved that he's been pushing for an American movie adaptation of the story (some people would say a remake of the Japanese movie based on the same true story), even going to co-produce the film with his own money!
Director Lasse Hallstrom has been hired to helm the film. Richard Gere takes the lead role. The movie Hachiko A Dog Story is also starring Joan Allen and Sarah Roemer. It will be released on August 8, 2009 in Japan, so we may expect a US release by year end.
Here below the first official movie trailer of Hachiko A Dog Story:
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Plot:
"A college professor (Richard Gere) takes in an abandoned dog, Hachi, and they form an unbreakable bond. After the professor dies while away from home, the dog keeps vigil waiting for his master for nearly a decade."
Cast:
- Richard Gere as Parker, the professor
- Joan Allen as the professor's wife
- Sarah Roemer as Andy, the professor's daughter
- Jason Alexander as Carl
The story of Hachiko is really moving. It's like a mirror story of Marley and Me. Those cute dogs are irresistible! I'm sure I will cry a bit with this movie too!
Don't miss Richard Gere and his Akita dog in the movie Hachiko A Dog's Story!
Last year, CNN sneaked onto the set of Hachiko A Dog Story, the tale of a long-life devotion of a dog to its
Nice look to the behind the scenes of the movie Hachiko A Dog's Story: filming took place in Rhodes Island.
If you're wondering about the breed (race) of the dog Hashi, it's an Akita, a really cute Japanese dog.
Here below some pictures of the film Hachiko A Dog Story, upcoming movie directed by Lasse Hallstrom and starring Richard Gere: (Click on a picture to enlarge it.)
They are so lovely together! The dog Hachiko is much more cute than the aging Richard Gere though.
The movie Hachiko A Dog' Story is based on a true story that took in first half of the 20th century in Japan. We may learn more thanks to Wikipedia:
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In 1924, Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life Hachiko saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno didn't return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.
Hachiko was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. After time, Hachiko apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachiko waited for Professor Ueno to return. And each day he didn't see his friend among the commuters at the station.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachiko and Professor Ueno together each day. Realizing that Hachiko waited in vigil for his dead master, their hearts were touched. They brought Hachiko treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
This continued for 10 years, with Hachiko appearing only in the evening time, precisely when the train was due at the station.
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The people of Japan was so touched by this heartfelt example of a dog's devotion for his owner that a statue a bronze statue in Hachiko's likeness was erected at Shibuya Station: (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)What an incredibly touching story! Hachiko was such a great dog! Such stories make you wish to have a pet!
We are years away from the development of a teleportation machine like the transporter room on Star Trek's Enterprise spaceship. The laws of physics may even make it impossible to create a transporter that enables a person to be sent instantaneously to another location, which would require travel at the speed of light.
For a person to be transported, a machine would have to be built that can pinpoint and analyze all of the 1028atoms that make up the human body. That's more than a trillion trillion atoms. This machine would then have to send this information to another location, where the person's body would be reconstructed with exact precision. Molecules couldn't be even a millimeter out of place, lest the person arrive with some severe neurological or physiological defect.
In the Star Trek episodes, and the spin-off series that followed it, teleportation was performed by a machine called a transporter. This was basically a platform that the characters stood on, while Scotty adjusted switches on the transporter room control boards. The transporter machine then locked onto each atom of each person on the platform, and used a transporter carrier wave to transmit those molecules to wherever the crew wanted to go. Viewers watching at home witnessed Captain Kirk and his crew dissolving into a shiny glitter before disappearing, rematerializing instantly on some distant planet.
If such a machine were possible, it's unlikely that the person being transported would actually be "transported." It would work more like a fax machine -- a duplicate of the person would be made at the receiving end, but with much greater precision than a fax machine. But what would happen to the original? One theory suggests that teleportation would combine genetic cloning with digitization.
In this biodigital cloning, tele-travelers would have to die, in a sense. Their original mind and body would no longer exist. Instead, their atomic structure would be recreated in another location, and digitization would recreate the travelers' memories, emotions, hopes and dreams. So the travelers would still exist, but they would do so in a new body, of the same atomic structure as the original body, programmed with the same information.
But like all technologies, scientists are sure to continue to improve upon the ideas of teleportation, to the point that we may one day be able to avoid such harsh methods. One day, one of your descendents could finish up a work day at a space office above some far away planet in a galaxy many light years from Earth, tell his or her wristwatch that it's time to beam home for dinner on planet X below and sit down at the dinner table as soon as the words leave his mouth.
Introduction to Quantum Teleportation
What is teleportation? Roughly speaking, there is a Lab A and a Lab B, and each lab has a box. The goal of teleportation is to take any object that is placed in Box A and move it to Box B.
Of special interest to science fiction fans (among others) is human teleportation, where a brave telenaut (whom we shall call Jim) enters Box A and uses the teleportation machine to travel to Lab B.
It turns out that human teleportation appears possible in principle, though is probably impossible in practice. Nevertheless, teleportation of much smaller objects like individual spins is not only possible, but has been accomplished in the laboratory. Our goal here is to explain both how teleportation is done and why it is interesting.
The discussion below is part of a talk I gave at the International Summer School for Young Physicists held at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Canada. The talk was intended for some very smart high-school students, but most of the discussion below should be accessible to a wide audience.
Only the non-technical sections of the discussion (i.e., those that don't use math notation) are reproduced below. However the full set of notes is available as a PDF. A recorded version of the talk is also available via PIRSA.
Classical teleportation
Let's start by assuming that the world is perfectly classical, that is, let's not worry about the effects of quantum mechanics. Can we do teleportation?
As stated above the problem is trivial and the solution is called a truck. We load the cargo of box A onto a truck, we drive the truck over to lab B, and unload the cargo into box B. Presto exchange-o, we have teleportation!
But that is not the solution we really wanted, so let's build a wall between labs A and B. Now no trucks can get through.
Unfortunately, if this wall is perfect and separates Labs A and B into two different universes, then there is nothing that can be done to move things between the two universes and our poor telenaut Jim will be forever stuck in Lab A.
To make the problem both possible and interesting let's allow a single telephone line between universes A and B. Can we teleport Jim from A to B now?
What we are trying to build now is essentially a fax machine. A giant 3-D fax machine, but a fax machine nonetheless. Into the fax machine at A goes Jim and out of the fax machine at B we get a copy of Jim.
The first objection that you could raise is that we now have two copies of Jim, which may not be ideal. But this is an easily fixed problem. We buy a shredder and attach it to the fax machine at A so that it destroys the originals after they pass through the fax.
So we run Jim through the shredder at A and now there is only on copy at B. Will this be painful for Jim? Maybe (hence the title "brave" telenaut). But remember that the surviving copy at B was made before the "original" at A was put into the shredder. From the point of view of the copy at B, he entered the box at A and exited at B and no pain was ever felt.
A second objection is that we are only getting an approximate copy of Jim at B. Certainly a standard fax machine has a fairly poor resolution, however there is no reason why we can't build very very accurate fax machines.
Now it is true that the copy at B will never be perfect. But that shouldn't be a problem. Even if we used a truck to transport an object from A to B, the object that arrives at B would be slightly different from the one that left A. Along the way it will be shaken a bit or it might get hit by some cosmic rays which will change the state of a few atoms. Our goal should be that the errors that appear when we teleport Jim via the fax machine should be comparable to the changes that would have occurred when moving Jim in a truck. That is, a few very very small errors should be acceptable.
An important thing to notice is that our giant fax machine is not intended to transfer matter and energy, just like a regular fax machine would not be used to transmit blank papers. We always assume that we have the appropriate matter and energy available in Lab B and our goal is simply to assemble it into the pattern of the object placed in Box A.
So can we build a classical teleportation device as described? The answer appears to be yes. That doesn't mean that it is easy. It would be an incredible engineering feat to build a giant 3-D super-accurate fax machine. But it really is just a difficult engineering problem. From the point of view of a physicist there is no reason why this shouldn't be possible.
Quantum teleportation
But now we remember that the world is quantum mechanical, and realize that there is a problem...
What is the fax machine supposed to do?
Fully measures the state of the input
Transmits the results via the phone
Reconstructs the original from the received description.
Step 1 is already impossible in a quantum world because of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. We could measure the position of all the particles forming Jim but then we wouldn't get a chance to measure the momentum of those particles. Alternatively, we could measure the momentum but then not the position. One can also envision a mixed strategy where we measure some positions and some momenta, however the uncertainty principle basically guarantees that we will never obtain enough information to rebuild even a modestly good copy of Jim.
It appears that even before running Jim through the shredder, the measurement process will likely destroy the only good copy without obtaining the required information to rebuilt Jim anew.
The surprising result of quantum teleportation is that even though the "measure and reconstruct" procedure does not work, there is an alternative procedure that effectively realizes teleportation in the quantum world.
In fact, it was not until the publication of a 1993 paper by Bennett, Brassard, Crepeau, Jozsa, Peres and Wootters that we realized quantum teleportation was possible. That is some 70 years after the formulation of the theory of quantum mechanics!
Effectively we realized that quantum teleportation, which we thought to be impossible, is only very very hard. What is the difference between the two notions? Traveling faster than the speed of light is impossible, traveling at say 99% of the speed of light is possible but very hard to do.
The upgrade in status from impossible to very very hard may not be very significant to those who would like to actually build such a device. But to a physicist it makes a world of difference, and is a very exciting discovery.
So let me begin by describing the setup for quantum teleportation, which is almost identical to the setup for classical teleportation described above. Again, we will have Labs A and B, each with a box, and we will try to move the contents of box A to box B. The two labs will be separated by a wall and only connected by a phone.
We have to be careful in specifying what kind of phone. If this phone allows sending quantum information back and forth, then the problem of quantum teleportation becomes relatively trivial. It is similar to the classical case when we allowed trucks to move objects between A and B.
The interesting case is when the phone allows only the passage of classical information. You can think of the phone as measuring all signals as they pass through the phone. All standard phones are classical phones.
In effect, what we are asking here is can we use our standard classical communication tools to transmit the state of a quantum system.
Thus far our setup for quantum teleportation is equal to the one for classical teleportation. But there is one important difference. In the quantum case, Labs A and B must begin with something called an entangled quantum state, which will be destroyed by the teleportation procedure.
Roughly speaking an entangled state is a pair of objects that are correlated in a quantum way. Below we will describe a specific example known as the "singlet state" of two spins. However, let us first explore the consequences of this extra requirement for quantum teleportation.
To prepare an entangled state of two particles, one essentially has to start with both particles in the same laboratory, let's say Lab A. Now we have the problem of sending one of the particles to Lab B. In principle, we could use quantum teleportation to send this particle to B, but this process would destroy one entangled state to create another entangled state, a net gain of zero. In any case, we have to worry about how the first entangled state is created.
The only solution is that sometime in the past the wall that separates Lab A and Lab B must not have been there. At that time the scientists from the two labs met, created a large number of entangled states, and carried them to their respective laboratories.
Think of two friends who lived nearby, but now one is moving away. They can create some entangled states that the friend who is moving can carry with him when he leaves, and then they can use those to teleport things back and forth. However, if they had never met in person and have no friends in common (who could have met with both of them) then quantum teleportation becomes impossible.
So returning to our brave telenaut Jim, he will be able to teleport to the labs of his friends. But also he could use two teleportations to travel to the labs of people whom he has never met personally, but who are friends of his friends. Similarly, he can teleport to the labs of the friends of his friends of his friends, and so on. However, teleporting to say a distant planet or to some other place we have never had contact with is impossible.
The entanglement requirement poses a second problem, since as we mentioned above it is destroyed when used. Entanglement is effectively a resource that is slowly depleted as teleportations occur. It can be renewed by meeting in person and then carrying entanglement back from Lab A to Lab B, but it has to be transported without the use of teleportation. In principle this is difficult, otherwise we wouldn't have bothered using teleportation from A to B in the first place. However, the idea is that one difficult journey from A to B can allow in the future many quick transfers from A to B.
I should mention one last important detail of quantum teleportation. In the classical case we decided to run Jim through the shredder in Lab A after "faxing" him to lab B. But it seems like this step was optional, and we could have chosen to end up with two copies of Jim. In the quantum case this is not possible, because quantum information cannot be copied. The only way to teleport an object to Lab B is to destroy the object at Lab A.
Philosophically, one can say that if there can only ever be one copy of Jim at any time, and the copy of B survives the teleportation process in a pain free manner, then whatever is destroyed at in Lab A could not have been a copy of Jim.
However, we shall leave moral questions of this sort to the philosophers, and instead turn our attention now to the mathematics of quantum teleportation.
The mathematics of quantum teleportation
To view the full discussion of the mathematics of teleportation you will need to continue reading the PDF version of these notes. Alternatively, you can skip ahead to the discussion below covering a few important issues involving teleportation.
Can quantum teleportation be used for superluminal communication?
If we tried to define a colloquial notion of teleportation it would probably have two main properties: That objects move from A to B without "passing" through the space in between and that it be done instantaneously, or at least very very fast.
Roughly speaking, our teleportation schemes satisfy the first property. However, thus far we haven't discussed the speed at which teleportation should occur.
Teleportation as defined here requires sending a message from Lab A to Lab B using a regular phone. The message will travel at the speed of light from A to B. Therefore, our version of teleportation cannot be instantaneous and does not allow for travel faster than the speed of light.
In fact, teleportation might be significantly slower than light travel if the measurement and reconstruction procedures are slow. However, if we are teleporting a person (or some other system that is not static) then the measurement and reconstruction procedures need to be performed nearly instantaneously. After all, if you get to see as your feet are slowly measured and disassembled, the process would likely not be pain-free.
At first glance, though, there seems to be a way to use the teleportation procedure for superluminal communication. That is, by measuring the spins in Lab A, we are somehow instantaneously modifying the spin in Lab B. Whether or not this is a good description of what is going on depends which interpretation of quantum mechanics is used to describe the system (there are actually many interpretations of quantum mechanics which describe the above process in very different ways). However, all interpretations of quantum mechanics agree on one fact: that such tricks cannot be used for superluminal communication.
The basic idea of such a proof is to check that, when averaged over all the outcomes obtained in Lab A, any measurement done in Lab B will always yield 50-50 outcomes, no matter what state is being teleported. Therefore the measurements in Lab B cannot convey any useful information, at least until such a time when the correction operators have been applied.
Unfortunately all modern theories of physics predict that both faster than light travel and faster than light communication are impossible.
Real experiments that do teleportation
A number of groups conducted experimental realizations of the quantum teleportation procedure described above in the years 1997 and 1998, using a variety of different systems such as the spin (or polarization) of photons and the spin of atoms. In many cases Labs A and B were the left and right side of a table, and the spins were teleported roughly 50 cm.
The reason distance becomes relevant has to do with the distribution of entanglement which becomes harder as the separation between the two "labs" increases. A second related problem is the storing of entanglement which can only be done for very short periods, so in practice most early experiments distribute the entanglement only moments before it is to be used for teleportation. However, these experiments were sufficient to convince most physicists that teleportation of spins is possible.
Since 1997 there have also been many improved versions of the teleportation experiment. For instance, the distance has been increased in one experiment to 600 m, and the accuracy of the teleported state has also been slowly improving.
However, at the time this document was written, most experiments have only teleported a single spin. In principle, if you can teleport one spin, then you can teleport many spins simply by repeating the experiment in series many times. But this roughly only works on disjoint spins. To teleport a single object comprised of many spins is still out of reach of present day experiments.
In the future, though, we should see experiments that teleport large numbers of spins. Certainly, if a practical quantum computer is ever built then the same technology would likely allow us to teleport a few thousand spins. It is likely that this will happen within the next 30--50 years, if not sooner.
But will we ever be able to teleport people?
There are some 10^29 matter particles comprising a human person, each of which has position and momentum degrees of freedom in addition to spin. In principle, we might also need to teleport the photons, gluons and other energy particles comprising a person. Teleporting all that is going to be significantly harder than a few thousand spins. It is probably a good guess that teleportation of humans will never be possible.
Are we at least sure that it is possible to teleport humans in principle?
While most scientists expect that ten, hundreds and maybe even thousands of spins will be teleported in practice some day, the teleportation of a human being, even in principle, is actually still a controversial subject.
I would roughly divide people into three schools of thought.
The first group of physicists would argue that there is a soul, consciousness or spirit that permeates the human body that cannot be described by science. Unfortunately, in this view by definition we are prevented from using science to determine if teleportation is feasible.
A second group of physicists would disagree with human teleportation because of something known as the measurement problem. Roughly speaking, any object that is capable of performing quantum measurements cannot itself be a quantum object, and therefore cannot be teleported using quantum teleportation. In this view, small numbers of particles are quantum but at some point when you combine enough particles you end up with a classical or "observer" object, which cannot be described by the laws of quantum mechanics.
In principle, such a belief will have experimental consequences, as we should be able to determine at what point do objects stop being quantum mechanical. At the moment there is neither any experimental evidence for such observer objects nor even a consistent theory that could describe them. On the other hand, it is also true that presently it is very hard to experimentally study large quantum systems, and so it is quite possible that something interesting will happen when a large enough system is examined.
The third school of though (which I am partial to) would say that all objects big and small are quantum mechanical, and therefore in principle can be teleported. What happened with the measurement problem? I would argue that measurements never actually occur. What happens is that the observer becomes entangled with the system he is measuring, and this appears to the observer as if a measurement was performed. The mathematics for this process works out quite nicely, but it does leave the nagging question of why does it feel like we are constantly measuring the world?
Of course, the final answer to whether teleportation of people is possible even in principle must wait for the formulation of a complete theory of physics, one which unifies relativity with quantum mechanics.
In the meantime, one can ask if there any applications for teleporting thousands of spins?
The answer is probably yes. In the future it is likely that quantum computers (i.e., computers capable of processing quantum information) will be built and may even be as ubiquitous as classical computers are today. These computers will need to exchange quantum information. One way these exchanges of information can occur is via a quantum phone, that is, a device capable of sending and received quantum messages. But when such phones are not available, the alternative is to do teleportation using a regular phone. So don't be surprised if some day in the next 100 years you see a quantum teleportation device for sale in your local computer store.
1. Sachin Tendulkar is the Highest Run scorer in the One day Internationals
2. Sachin Tendulkar is the Highest Run scorer in the Test Cricket
3. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 46
4. Most number of hundreds in the Tests 47
5. Most number of nineties in the ODI
6. Most number of man of the matches in the ODI's -61
7. Most number of man of the series(15) in ODI's
8. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
9. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
10. First Cricketer to pass 15000, 16000, 17000 run in the ODI
11. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
12. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
13. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
14. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
15. Man of the Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
16. Most number of Fifties in ODI's
17. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so.
19. First and only cricketer to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. India's highest sporting honor
20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
22. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli.
23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma vibhushan by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them. And the only cricketer to receive Padma vibhushan.
26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 8 times
27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman
28.First batsman in the history who was given out through third umpire.
29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 61 man of the match awards only 7 times India has lost.
30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards against Australia
31. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
32. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket: 93 centuries
33. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
34. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches
35. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
36. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999 (Sachin 186*, Dravid 153)
37. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
38. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
39. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
40. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 - 15, 000and 16,000 run marks IN ODI.
41. He hit the fastest double century in any international match
42. Maximum number of 150 plus scores in ODIs
43. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
44. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
45. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
46. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
47. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
48. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
49. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
50. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
51. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations. He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
52. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
53. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
54. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
55. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
56. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
57. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
58. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), have appeared in more games than Tendulkar.
59. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
60. First to 25,000 international runs
61. Tendulkar's 25,000+ runs in international cricket include 17000+ runs in ODI's, 13,000+ Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
62. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
63. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI
64. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
65. Sachin hit the first double century in the 40 year history of one day internationals
66. Maximum number of boundaries in a single innings
