So, the MIT guys have made a universe they can try “turning off and on again”
This new supercomputer they’ve conjured up is making the concept of the Matrix seem totally possible, as it’s replicated pretty much the whole universe. From electrons to elliptical galaxies, they’ve thought of it all.
The program, called “Illustris” (which only a universe replicator could be so simultaneously arrogant and deserving to call itself) serves up a sort of “Meet The Sims” meets science. But instead of making characters kick the neighborhood cat or play with themselves, the Bill Nye ilk can play with time itself – transporting between light years.
Seeing how our universe interconnects, changes and blah, blah, BLAH, – they can put various theories in one place to test hypotheses.
Right.
That sounds boring. But what is cool is that by doing that, they can not only observe what happened to get us to this point, but also estimate what the future may hold for the universe. Uh… do I really wanna know how long before we implode and then expand into a new big bang again?
The downside is the whole “imperfect model” thing.
When you’ve got invisible shit like dark energy bobbing around and making up 95% of the universe, it’s – WAIT.
Pause. Almost all of the energy in the universe we CAN’T see?
Alright. It’s sunk in. Un-pause.
When there’s that floating everywhere, it’s hard to capture everything perfectly.
But, as we’ve got only our five senses to work with, we’ve done alright with using context clues in the past (stars getting eaten by black holes or the way a planet moves funny when it’s in a dynamic with a less lit planet we can’t see)
It’s not perfect yet, but (much like Mario after bopping the flower power brick) it’s got legs to it. And since our Italian hero grew from three pixels into a whole internet meme, we can safely predict Illustris will too.
Given this in-depth supercomputer capacity, what would be the most useful thing to make it do? I dunno. I’m thinking scale it down, download all the info past and present from just here on Earth, and then implant it into my brain.
That way when I act like a know it all, I can “back it up”, Carrie Bradshaw style.
See? The geeks aren’t the only ones who can blast into the past.
#wellonmyway #nobelpeaceprize