Move over, Matrix - astronomers have done you one better.
They have created the first realistic virtual universe using a computer simulation
called "Illustris." Illustris can recreate 13 billion years of cosmic
evolution in a cube 350 million light-years on a side with unprecedented
resolution.
"Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce
the universe on both large and small scales simultaneously," says lead
author Mark Vogelsberger (MIT/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who
conducted the work in collaboration with researchers at several institutions,
including the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies in Germany.