A team of scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory announced that it "successfully completed the first-ever demonstration of securing control data for electric grids using quantum cryptography."
According to the press release, single photons were employed to produce secure random numbers that served as cryptographic keys between users. These random numbers were used to authenticate and encrypt the grid control data and commands. The scientists stated that electric grids require "novel methods" to "accommodate new energy sources such as renewables whose availability can fluctuate."
According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Quantum cryptography also allows energy providers to detect and "defeat an adversary" who may be trying to disrupt energy supply. The technology is largely based on a newly developed miniaturized QC transmitter that supports strong security assurances with low latencies (120 microseconds for a 25 km distance). The scientists said that their system could be deployed with only a single optical fiber to carry the quantum, single-photon communications signals; data packets; and commands.
The research team stated that it is currently seeking funding to develop a next-generation transmitter that is smaller and better suited for mass-production.
Though it may be slightly aside of the true topic, which is cool, Thorium does need to be pressed into the public consciousness. I've been following the tech for a while, and it is very cool, and long overdue. Here is an interesting pros and cons article on the subject. http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/04/liquid-fluoride-thorium-power-pros-cons/
Whatever it is, it's not as good as thorium. Nothing in the universe could give you more clean and plentiful energy like nuclear can, and liquid flouride thorium reactors (LFTRs) are the best form of nuclear energy.
Try to think of anything bad about nuclear energy and I can guarantee that it's related to uranium heavy water and light water reactors (HWR/LWR). LFTRs are the exact opposite of HWR/LWRs in almost every single way imaginable. LFTRs are immune to meltdowns and are as close to maximum efficiency as allowed by physics, whereas HWR/LWRs are actually in a constant state of controlled meltdown just waiting to go out of hand, and have an efficiency of LESS than 1%. No that's not a typo and no you didn't misread. It's so low it's practically a bad joke, only it's too sad to be funny.
This video has everything a layperson could possibly need to know about thorium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbucAwOT2Sc
If you're one of those people who still think that solar and wind power actually have a chance, you need to have a closer look at the figures. Solar will always be way too costly to ever be implemented on a large scale (nationally and globally). Wind power relies on neodymium, a rare earth element, and the success of the rare earth mining industry relies on the success of thorium reactors which use the byproducts of rare earth mining as fuel.
China already has a rare earth monopoly, and China will soon complete it's own fleet of LFTRs which are in fact being built as we speak, all the while using the U.S.'s own research conducted over 30 years ago but was never implemented on a larger scale due to politics and just plain stupidity and ignorance. But at least the world can breathe easy knowing that the world's most populated nation is heading away from oil power, since I doubt the Earth can handle another oil guzzler the size of the U.S.