They demonstrated this effect using two "entangled" mechanical oscillators. (A mechanical oscillator can be anything from a pendulum to a watch spring to a guitar string. Here, it's vibrating atoms.) First, they separated two entangled atoms from each other. Then the scientists prodded one vibrating atom of the pair, and the other vibrating atom acted like it was being prodded too - despite being nowhere near the first one. The two seem to be almost telepathically communicating with each other, faster than the speed of light.

This isn't the first strange experiment in quantum entanglement. Entangled photon pairs have been used to take ghostly photos through opaque barriers. Entanglement is also a key part of the classic Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment. But this experiment shows that entanglement isn't limited to immeasurable scales: one day, quantum computers might harness this effect for instant, efficient processing.

And there are even cooler implications from this experiment: In Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass, spies can instantaneously converse with their commanders by composing messages on a resonator entangled with a receiver worlds away. This recent experiment shows that Pullman's idea of large scale entanglement is theoretically possible, making faster-than-light communication more than just speculation.

via NIST Physicists Demonstrate Quantum Entanglement in Mechanical System [NIST]

Entangled Mechanical Oscillators [arXiv.org]

For further reading: "Ghost" Photographs Created via Quantum Entanglement

Image credit: John Jost and Jason Amini

Once the two patterns have been compared, you get a kind of black-and-white silhouette of the object you want to photograph. Scientists call this a "ghost photograph." University of Maryland physicist Yanhua Shih has been working on this "ghost photography" for a while, and has been talking to the military about using it in UAVs for photographing bomb damage through smoke.

According to the Air Force Times:

Albert Einstein explored the basic research behind ghost imaging — quantum entanglement — which he called "spooky action at a distance" in 1935. Shih discovered ghost imaging in 1995, but the theory has yet to leave the laboratory.

Air Force satellites could use ghost imaging by pointing a light sensor toward the Earth's surface and another toward the sun. The technique could allow the service to penetrate clouds or the smoke that follows airstrikes . . . Defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin has shown interest in quantum entanglement, acquiring a U.S. patent in May to develop quantum radar that could defeat stealth aircraft and find camouflaged improvised explosive devices and mines, according to the patent.

Discovery May Make Ghost Imaging a Reality [Air Force Times]