The universe is a 'giant brain,' physicists say

For years, scientists and science fiction writers have perceived the universe as a "giant brain." Now, a new computer simulation by physicists suggests this could be true to some extent.

 

A study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports said the universe may be growing in the same way as a giant brain, with the shape of expanding galaxies reflecting the firing between brain cells.

 

"Natural growth dynamics are the same for different real networks, like the Internet or the brain or social networks," Dmitri Krioukov of the University of California San Diego, a co-author of the study, told Space.com.

 

“At first blush they seem to be quite different systems, the question is, is there some kind of controlling laws can describe them?” he added.

 

He said different kinds of networks —such as the Internet or the human brain— evolve in similar ways.

 

The study cited a computer simulation that suggests “natural growth dynamics,” or the way that systems evolve, are the same for different kinds of networks.

 

“For a physicist it’s an immediate signal that there is some missing understanding of how nature works,” the Huffington Post quoted Krioukov as tellinge Space.com.

 

Modeling universe's life

 

The physicists' simulation modeled the very early life of the universe, shortly after the Big Bang.

 

In the simulation, they looked at how quantum units of space-time smaller than subatomic particles "networked" with each other.

 

They learned the simulation mirrored that of other networks - some links between similar nodes had limited growth, but others acted as junctions for many different connections.

 

Also, they found some connections are limited and similar, like a person who likes sports visiting many sports websites; while some connect to many other parts of the network, like Google and Yahoo. — TJD, GMA News