Former Master of Trinity College, Lord Martin Rees, has proposed the idea that our universe may just be a computer simulation

Speaking at the Wired 2013 conference in London last week, the leading astrophysicist and cosmologist said that evolution could lead to “post-human” species, formed by design rather than natural selection. “They could be silicon-based, or they could be organic creatures who had won the battle with death, or perfected the techniques of hibernation”, he said.

Lord Rees postulated that “post-humans” have already evolved elsewhere, and that our universe, rather than being the sole product of the Big bang, “may be just one island in a perhaps-infinite archipelago."

This theory is not a new one. Last year, researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany published a paper in which they said that a computer-simulated universe would naturally place limits on physical laws, similar to the ones we currently experience. 

The former President of the Royal Society, a body which acts as a scientific advisor to the government, also cautioned against promoting space travel as a tourist activity: “The phrase 'space tourism' should be avoided. It lulls people into believing that such ventures are routine and low risk. These ventures must be sold as dangerous sports or as intrepid exploration.” He also emphasised that emigration into space should not be seen as a solution to over population on Earth. 

Lord Martin Rees was Master of Trinity College between 2004 and 2012, and was awarded his life peerage in 2005.