Quantum dots are tiny structures made of semiconductors whose size determines, again through rules set by quantum mechanics, exactly what colour and amount of light they produce - and how often they produce it.

BBC: Quantum key distribution with single photons

While Professor O'Brien said he is confident that such waveguides are the logical choice for future optical quantum computers, he added that there is still a significant amount of work to do before they make it out of the laboratory.

BBC: Quantum computer slips onto chips

The tiny quantum fluctuations that drove the expansion could also have given rise to small variations in the amount of matter from one place to another, seeding the later gravitational growth of stars and galaxies.

BBC: The first fractions of a second after the Big Bang

While not as overtly exciting or dramatic as the teleportation of an actual person, such quantum teleportation nonetheless has enormous implications for the world of computing both in terms of the amount of information that can be stored and the speed with which it can be moved around.

CNN: Beam me up: Just how close are we to teleportation?