STARSHIPS may be a long way off, but enterprising scientists have just boldly gone where no man has gone before.

They have taken a step into the world of science fiction by making Captain Kirk's famous transporter a little closer to reality.

And although no-one is likely to say "Beam me up Scotty" for a few centuries yet, their achievement is making waves in the academic world.

A team from York and Japan has accomplished the first experimental demonstration of quantum telecloning.

The technique is "strikingly similar" to beaming Kirk back to the Enterprise and having two of him appear in the transporter room.

Scientists from York University, the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the University of Tokyo reported their success in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters.

The scientists succeeded in making the first remote copies of beams of laser light by combining quantum cloning with quantum teleportation into a single experimental step.

Professor Sam Braunstein, of York University's department of computer science, said: "Quantum mechanics allows us to do things which we previously thought were impossible.

"In 1998, I was involved in an experiment in America which was one of the first for quantum teleportation in which we transmitted a beam of light without it crossing the physical medium in between.

"This new experiment is an extension of that work. Whether it will change the world for individuals or is just of use to governments or big companies is hard to say.

"Any new protocol is like a new-born baby and it has to develop, but we know this one could be used to tap cryptographic channels.

"Quantum cryptographic protocols are so secure that they can not only discover tapping, but also where and how much information is leaking out. Now, using telecloning, the identity and location of the eavesdropper can be concealed."

While telecloning and teleportation may no longer be theories, the transporters of Star Trek are still firmly in the realm of science fiction.

Prof Braunstein admitted that teleporting people, if even possible, was still a long way off.

"What we know is that it would be incredibly difficult and, from the perspective of today's technology, a completely outrageous thing," he said. But in 100 years, who knows?