What have scientists ‘teleported’ from the Gobi Desert to low-Earth orbit?

According to the BBC, Chinese researchers working from the Gobi Desert have successfully teleported a photon from Earth to a satellite orbiting the planet at more than 300 miles up. While the process, called quantum entanglement, did not result in the physical photon being sent to a remote location, it does mean that the information about the particle was reproduced and was duplicated remotely. 

Ian Walmsley, a professor of experimental physics at Oxford University, explained the significance of the breakthrough to the news organization, saying that it could be used to securely transmit sensitive data or be used as part of a global neural network.