Beaming up Scotty would take 350,000 times the age of the universe: Scientists reveal teleportation would be mind-bogglingly slow Physics students set out to find out how long the teleportation of a human from the earth's surface to a space in circular orbit directly above would take If teleportation technology did exist, a human would need to be distilled into transferable data, right down to DNA, and all of the data making up the brain University of Leicester scientists said the transfer of Scotty would require up to 4.5 times 10 to the power of 15 years In popular sci-fi films, teleportation allows you to travel between places faster than the time it takes to say 'Beam me up, Scotty'. British physics students believe the reality - even if the technology existed to make it possible - would be somewhat different to how it is depicted in Star Trek. University of Leicester students said teleporting just one person off the surface of the Earth to a waiting spacecraft would take 350,000 times longer than the universe has been in existence. University of Leicester students said teleporting just one person - such as Captain Kirk or Spock (pictured) - off the surface of the Earth would take 350,000 times longer than the universe has been in existence In 2009's Star Trek, Scotty is able to transport himself and Captain Kirk across space and into a ship travelling at warp speed. In their world teleportation is the preferred way to get around - apart from enormous intergalactic starships. Inspired by sci-fi, the university students set out to find out how long the teleportation of a human from the earth's surface to a space in circular orbit directly above would take. The answer is a staggeringly long amount of time, which might not be so surprising if you consider the amount of information being transmitted. University students set out to find out how long the teleportation of a human from the Earth¿s surface to a spacecraft in circular orbit directly above would take and the answer is a staggeringly long amount of time. This is in contrast to the scenario seen in episodes of Star trek (pictured) If teleportation technology did exist, a human would need to be distilled into transferable data, right down to DNA, and all of the data making up the brain. The data in the traveller's brain would amount to around 2.6 times 10 to the power of 42 bits. David Starkey, a member of the University of Leicester team, said: 'We decided to investigate the practicalities of teleportation as a means of everyday travel. We employed several approximations to determine the amount of data required in bits to fully store a human genetic code and neural information and the signal to noise ratio of typical signalling equipment. If teleportataion technology did exist as pictured, a human would need to be distilled into transferable data, right down to DNA, and all of the data making up the brain. All the data in the traveller's brain, would amount to around 2.6 times 10 to the power of 42 bits Our results indicate the time scales to complete a full teleport of an individual are a little too lengthy at this time. 'Current means of travel remain more feasible,' he joked. The students, all in their final year of a physics masters degree, worked out what it would take to represent a human as transferable data. They found that the energy required to teleport into a person was dependent on bandwidth. The less time it took, the more power was consumed. Assuming a bandwidth of 29.5 to 30 gigahertz, the transfer of Scotty would require up to 4.5 times 10 to the power of 15 years. Beaming someone up to an orbiting spacecraft would therefore take about 350,000 times longer than all the years that have passed since the Big Bang. The universe is thought to be around 14 billion years old. The students found the energy required to teleport a person was dependent on bandwidth.The less time it took, the more power was consumed. Scientists in Australia have previously suggested the travel technique could be realistic engineering proposition, as suggested in this diagram Huge amounts of power would be needed to beam up the data. The physicists said it would be significantly quicker for Scotty or Spock to walk into Space (it that too were possible). The students concluded that teleportation will only exist in sci-fi for a long time. The findings are published in the University of Leicester's Journal of Physics Special Topics. Course leader Mervyn Roy, a lecturer at the university's department of physics and astronomy, said: 'To be a research physicist - in industry or academia - you need to show some imagination, to think outside the box, and this is certainly something that the module allows our students to practice.' The word teleportation was coined in 1931 It was created by American writer Charles Fort to describe the strange connected disappearances and appearances of anomalies He joined the Greek prefix 'tele-' meaning distant, to the Latin verb portare meaning to carry to create the word Fort first used the word in his 1931 book called Lo! He wrote: 'Mostly in this book I shall specialize upon indications that there exists a transportory force that I shall call Teleportation...I shall be accused of having assembled lies, yarns, hoaxes, and superstitions. To some degree I think so myself. To some degree, I do not. He suggested the phenomenon might explain seemingly paranormal activities It is unclear whether he subscribed to the idea seriously or just used it to point out gaps in modern science