Teleportation is (not) here, but hang on...

Not to give ecommerce companies, airlines and automakers nightmares. But teleportation - the still-hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from Point A to Point B without it having to travel the physical distance between them - could be, to put it mildly, a major disruptor. No, not that the mad scientist Elon Musk working night and day on the 'Screw SpaceX, This Is It!' project in his attic reached a breakthrough. But if reports are to be believed (read: understood), then researchers of Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, have already invented a device that does 'instant' transfer 'Beam me up, Scotty'-style. Nearly a decade earlier.

Hang on. So, then, why isn't Jeff Bezos on the street and BYD execs holding placards saying, 'Will play harmonica for money'? That's 'cos current teleportation tech isn't really breaking down a lamp in Timbuktu and reforming it in the exact same order in Casablanca. The 'Scotty' device really scans an object and 3D prints it elsewhere. Yes, it's a fax machine (look it up, millennials) for inanimate objects. It's still not taken off. But that's the thing about tech. You never knew when electricity in homes would take off - or Blu-ray discs wouldn't. You'll still have to commute to work, but do take a look at the 'Scotty' machine, investors. Bezos and Co will be shaking in their Lanvin sneakers.