Physicists have spent decades arguing over whether our universe is a fundamental reality or a kind of cosmic software, and ...

A new research paper reframes the simulation hypothesis, asking whether reality could be simulated and what science can test.

Monisha Ravisetti was a science writer at CNET. She covered climate change, space rockets, mathematical puzzles, dinosaur bones, black holes, supernovas, and sometimes, the drama of philosophical ...

Gravity used to be the most down-to-earth of ideas, the thing that kept apples falling and planets in line. Now a growing ...

The simulated universe theory implies that our universe, with all its galaxies, planets and life forms, is a meticulously programmed computer simulation. In this scenario, the physical laws governing ...

The simulation hypothesis—the idea that our universe might be an artificial construct running on some advanced alien computer ...

Physicists have long struggled to explain why the universe started out with conditions suitable for life to evolve. Why do the physical laws and constants take the very specific values that allow ...

20 years ago, futurist Nick Bostrom published the first draft of his groundbreaking simulation argument, which asks, "Are you living in a computer simulation?" Public figures like Elon Musk and Neil ...

Elon Musk and others find it plausible that our experiences result from events in a computer simulation, just like the characters in the Matrix movies. An alternative view, supported by both common ...

A military planner at the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, watches a battle unfold without taking his eyes off the computer screen. The software is tracking a million vehicles spread over ...

Elon Musk and others find it plausible that our experiences result from events in a computer simulation, just like the characters in the Matrix movies. An alternative view, supported by both common ...

Just Elon Musk's name is enough to evoke an emotional response in many people, ranging from hope and glee in some to anger and disgust in others. But how about existential dread? It's true that one of ...