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Physics

Tardigrade is first multicellular organism to be quantum entangled

A tardigrade cooled to near absolute zero and placed in a state of quantum entanglement survived its ordeal

By Alex Wilkins

17 December 2021

Tardigrade

An illustration of a tardigrade

3Dstock/Shutterstock

A tardigrade has been quantum entangled with a superconducting qubit – and lived to tell the tale. It is the first time a multicellular organism has been placed in this strange quantum state and raises questions about what it means for living things to be entangled.

Tardigrades are microscopic animals that can survive extreme temperatures and pressures in a hibernating state called a tun. Rainer Dumke and his colleagues at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, placed one of these hibernating tardigrades on a superconducting qubit, an element…

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