A TWIST IN TIME Imagine leaving Earth for a space trip: You are travelling at 90% the speed of light toward a star 10 light-years away. When you return, you find your twin, who was the same age as you when you left, to be significantly older than you. While 22 years had passed on Earth, for you, the journey felt like less than 10 years! How is that possible? If the star was 10 light-years away, then how did the entire journey feel less than 10 years? This isn't science fiction; it is the concept of time dilation and special relativity. In simple words, the faster an object moves through space, the slower time passes for it relative to a stationary object, and simultaneously, the distance along the direction of motion contracts. Why does this happen? We know that motion is relative. When travelling in a bus, to a person standing on the sidewalk, you would appear to be in motion, but to the other people on the bus travelling at the same speed as you, you would appear to be at rest...
Fundamentally Computational? Can Physics Detect a Simulation? Aaradhy Srivastava Abstract This paper explores the idea that the universe might function like a computational system and examines whether modern physics could detect if we are living in a simulation. By comparing theories from physics and computer science, the paper discusses digital physics, the simulation hypothesis, and current scientific limits. While some evidence suggests the universe behaves in discrete and rule-based ways, there is no definitive proof that it is a simulation. The question remains open and lies at the intersection of science and philosophy. 1. Introduction For centuries, humans have tried to understand the true nature of reality. With the rise of computers, a new question has emerged: Is the universe itself like a computer? Some scientists and philosophers suggest that everything we see — matter, energy, and even space-time — could be the result of underlying computations. This leads to an eve...