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"If we assume that these developments continue, and with them our interest in creating simulations of the world, then at some point in the future - 1,000 years, 100,000 years - it's reasonable to assume that the difference between reality and simulation will become indistinguishable. At which point it will mean we will have created simulated beings with their own consciousness. Advertisement But if that is the inevitable outcome of continued technological advancement, unless nuclear war or some other catastrophe intervenes, then it's quite possible - some would say an overwhelming certainty - that it's already happened, and we are the ancestor simulations created by an advanced post-human civilisation."

"Japanese supercomputer simulations showed that wearing two masks gave limited benefit in blocking viral spread compared with one properly fitted mask. The findings in part contradict recent recommendations from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that two masks were better than one at reducing a person's exposure to the coronavirus. Researchers used the Fugaku supercomputer to model the flow of virus particles from people wearing different types and combinations of masks, according to a study released on Thursday by research giant Riken and Kobe University."

"Eventually, we will reach a point of full saturation, a period in our evolution in which digital bits will outnumber atoms on Earth, a world "mostly computer simulated and dominated by digital bits and computer code," according to an article published in AIP Advances, by AIP Publishing."

"This is the dystopian nightmare that Russell fears if his discipline continues on its current path and succeeds in creating super-intelligent machines. It's the scenario implicit in the philosopher Nick Bostrom's "paperclip apocalypse" thought-experiment and entertainingly simulated in the Universal Paperclips computer game. It is also, of course, heartily derided as implausible and alarmist by both the tech industry and AI researchers. One expert in the field famously joked that he worried about super-intelligent machines in the same way that he fretted about overpopulation on Mars."