How to Build a Teleporter with Aliens

Building a teleporter for aliens near Alpha Centauri runs into a basic problem: humans and outsiders can’t rely on shared physical artifacts or local standards. If one side says “make an arc 300 cubits long,” the other side needs the same definition of a cubit—or the result won’t match. The solution is to communicate using universal, idea-based definitions of matter, time, and distance rather than Earth-specific objects.

The groundwork starts with “materials” defined at the level of atoms and molecules. Instead of shipping a vial of lithium, the message would specify the atom by its internal structure—“the atom that has 3 protons, 3 neutrons, and 3 electrons.” Water becomes a molecular recipe: “one atom with 8 protons plus two atoms with 1 proton.” With enough of these structure-based descriptions, both civilizations can agree on what to build with, even if they’ve never met.

Next come clocks, again defined by reproducible quantum behavior. A second can be specified by instructing the aliens to use a particular atom (55 protons and 78 neutrons) and measure the time it takes for a photon emitted in a defined way to oscillate 9,192,631,770 times. Distances follow the same pattern: define the meter by how far light travels in 1/299,792,458 of a second. In principle, this gives a complete shared measurement system for time and length.

Mass is where the plan hits a roadblock—literally, because the current kilogram is tied to a specific physical chunk of metal stored on Earth. That makes it impossible to define mass to distant aliens using only abstract, structure-based instructions. To fix this, the discussion points to a near-future shift toward redefining the kilogram in terms of constants or atomic properties. Two candidate approaches are highlighted: (1) define the kilogram using a specified number of atoms—described as about 21.5253873 septillion atoms with 14 protons and 14 neutrons; or (2) define it by the mass lost when an atom or molecule emits light, where the photon’s oscillation frequency is about 135.6392534 septillion septillion times per second. The “pile of atoms” method sounds simpler, but it’s described as harder and more expensive to implement.

Once mass can be communicated as an idea rather than an object, the teleporter design can proceed using consistent definitions across worlds. The end goal is a wormhole teleporter that allows visits between Earth and Alpha Centauri—followed by diplomacy over dinner—and a symbolic payoff: showing the former metal artifact that used to serve as the mass standard.