“Whether we are simply characters in an advanced virtual world is a much-debated theory, challenging previous thinking about the universe and our existence. The possibility that the entire universe is informational in nature and resembles a computational process is a popular theory among a number of well-known figures including Elon Musk. The thinking comes from within a branch of science known as information physics, which suggests physical reality is actually made up of structured information. In an article published in AIP Advances and included in the journal’s ‘Editor’s Picks’, a leading physicist from the University of Portsmouth, Dr Melvin Vopson, presents findings which indicate that gravity or gravitational force is the result of a computational process within the universe,” says the University of Portsmouth in a press release from last week.

“He suggests that gravity might actually be caused by how information about matter is organised in the universe. Using the second law of information dynamics, he indicates that matter and objects in space may be being pulled together because the universe is trying to keep information tidy and compressed. Dr Vopson said: ‘My findings in this study fit with the thought that the universe might work like a giant computer, or our reality is a simulated construct. Just like computers try to save space and run more efficiently, the universe might be doing the same. It’s a new way to think about gravity – not just as a pull, but as something that happens when the universe is trying to stay organised.’ Dr Vopson has previously published research suggesting that information has mass and that all elementary particles – the smallest known building blocks of the universe – store information about themselves, similar to the way cells, the building blocks of biological entities, have DNA.”

Maybe you have to read the whole paper to be able to turn into a cyberpunk warrior who can do all sorts of slow-motion acrobatic “wire-fu” moves while firing MP5 submachine guns at the forces who created the universe to imprison human minds to power their colossal machine civilization.