The Matrix

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/01/vr-hypothesis.html

"The idea that the universe is a giant virtual reality simulation is a well explored theme in science fiction. Films such as The Matrix have used this premise to great effect.

"Now a New Zealand scientist is saying that physicists should seriously explore the idea. Brian Whitworth at Massey University says that it is perfectly reasonable to conjecture that "the world is an information simulation running on a three-dimensional space-time screen". Deciding whether or not this is true is a matter for science to resolve."

Is the universe a virtual reality simulation? And should this idea idea be seriously explored by experimental physics? If the universe were running on a Windows box, it would certainly explain a lot...