If the universe is just a Matrix-like simulation, how could we ever know? Physicist Silas Beane of the University of Bonn, Germany, thinks he has the answer. His paper ‘Constraints on the Universe as a Numerical Simulation’ has been submitted to the journal Physical Review D.

Justin Mullins: The idea that we live in a simulation is just science fiction, isn’t it?
Silas Beane: There is a famous argument that we probably do live in a simulation. The idea is that in the future, humans will be able to simulate entire universes quite easily. And given the vastness of time ahead, the number of these simulations is likely to be huge. So if you ask the question: ‘Do we live in the one true reality or in one of the many simulations?