If you've been following the development of crypto-currencies, cyber-security, quantum entanglement, or financial clearing, you'll want to take notice of these articles shared by Mr. T.M. and Mr. J.K., for China has crossed another threshold on the path toward satellite-based quantum entanglement communications systems, and therefore, toward a much more secure means of financial clearing:

Breakthrough: Entangled photons transmitted more than 1,200 km

China Shatters “Spooky Action at a Distance” Record, Preps for Quantum Internet

Note that this was achieved in satellite-to-ground communications, an important "proof-of-concept" demonstration. The goal of course is to use entanglement as a basis of secure - almost uncrackable or unhackable communications. While it's still a long way from "sub-space communications" on the old Star Trek series, the use of lasers in the communication has now set a record of the receipt of entangled photons to 1200 km, or approximately 745 miles. The next steps in the technology tree will be to demonstrate (1) satellite to satellite transmission at large distance, then (2) satellite to satellite to satellite and/or ground, and then to begin to increase the amount of data to the point that it would resemble the data carrying capacity that financial clearing networks need: stability of transmission, minimal loss, and ultimately, secure and "unhackable" transmission is the goal, for these are essential to a stable financial clearing system in the 21st century.

That is China's real goal: to emplace such a system, and thereby, to outflank the US-SWIFT system of financial clearing.

This in turn will require the ability to defend those satellites from ground based and orbital platforms (and a similar capability is required for the US, and anyone else with large space-based asset commitments: France, Japan, Germany, the UK, India, Russia, and so on). In other words, space weaponization is coming, and it will be multi-polar in nature, unless unforeseen events or developments nudge things in the opposite direction.

But as I read this article, a new though occurred to me, and I want to share it today by way of some high octane speculations, or rather, high octane questions or suspicions. I've been covering stories such as this on this website for some time now, and over time, I've begun to notice a pattern emerging. Perhaps I am mistaken, and noticing a "pattern" that really isn't there, simply on account of my "selection bias" or the "selection bias" of the many people of this community who are kind enough to notice stories and articles and pass them along to me. The pattern is this: that in all such stories of quantum satellites and entanglement experiments, or "entanglement distance" records, the story seems to be about China. And this raises the question: are the other space powers completely overwhelmed? Are they not performing such experiments? And if not, why not? And if they are, where are the stories about them? In short, I cannot imagine that the USA, the UK, France or so on, are about to concede to China the sole monopoly on space-based quantum entanglement communications systems, yet, we see virtually no stories about such systems in development by those countries.

More importantly, I have a "suspicion" - a suspicion only, since I've not seen anything to suggest real evidence - that this is all very deliberate. We are told, of course, that entanglement and quantum computing systems would be virtually unhackable. But I have to wonder if, in the laboratories of agencies like DARPA (the Diabolically Apocalyptic Research Projects Agency, as we refer to it here, following a suggestion of Mr. J.B.), they are already into second generation experiments on this phenomenon and technology, and if, perhaps they have found, or at least, theorized about, ways around it.

See you on the flip side...