The government could be using the possibly unbreakable encryption method of quantum entanglement by 2014.

Researchers hope to send an experiment to the International Space Station (ISS) by the middle of the next decade that would pave the way for transcontinental transmission of secret messages encoded using the mysterious quantum property of entanglement.

When two particles such as photons are born from the same event, they emerge entangled, meaning they can communicate instantaneously no matter how far apart they are. Transmitting entangled pairs of photons reliably is the backbone of so-called quantum key distribution—procedures for converting those pairs into potentially unbreakable codes. Quantum cryptography, as it is known, could appeal to banks, covert government agencies and the military, and was tested in a 2007 Swiss election.

In addition to the potential practical application, the Space-QUEST project would give researchers a chance to probe the reaches of entanglement in a new way. Theory says entangled should be unlimited in range, Ursin says, but to know for sure, "we have to test it."