Is The Universe A Computer Simulation? 

A totally cool article by the lovely and talented 

Cara Santa Maria, with the Huffington Post (who can be reached at

sciencecara@huffingtonpost.com)

Have you ever wondered whether all this--you, your life, the universe--is just a sophisticated computer simulation?

Martin Savage, a physicist at the University of Washington, thinks we can't discount the idea. In fact, he and two colleagues (Silas Beane and Zohreh Davoudi) published a paper in November 2012 exploring the possibility.

... it is the first time where you think, you know, you might result from just a piece of code, writing another piece of code, writing another piece of code. And then you do ask the question about the original simulator, if you like. And so if we are a simulation, we’re probably a simulation from our descendants, right? So, as our universe evolves and becomes more mature, then somebody in that universe launches a simulation to simulate where they came from....

to read the rest, click here

360 crime scene views - totally mathematical...

360 crime scene views - totally mathematical...

Crime scene forensics: How does it work?

Forensic evidence and the way it was gathered came under close scrutiny in the trial of Stephen Lawrence's killers.

Techniques and practices have developed significantly since 1993 and are now a key part of police investigations from the start.

The basic principle is "every contact leaves a trace" and specks of blood, fibres or fingerprints become silent witnesses against the criminal. Here, we examine forensic science from crime scene to courtroom.
 
For the rest of the story, read here: