"The Matrix" may have been right all along. The idea that we are all living in a virtual simulation of reality formed the basis of the 1999 cult film, and now some philosophers and an increasing number of scientists are coming round to the idea it might actually be true.

Simulation theory, as it is known, is a "theoretical hypothesis that says what people perceive as reality is actually an advanced, hyper-realistic computer simulation, possibly overseen by a higher being", said BuiltIn.

Where did it come from?
The modern version dates from a seminal paper published in 2003 by Nick Bostrom, a Swedish philosopher at the University of Oxford. In it he argued that future generations might have mega-computers that could run numerous and detailed simulations of their forebears. The odds are, he said, that we are products of that simulation and may be "simulated minds rather than among the original biological ones".

New York University techno-philosopher David Chalmers on Serious Science described the higher being responsible for this potential hyper-realistic simulation as a "programmer in the next universe up".

Who backs the theory?
Nowadays simulation theorists are a "digitised dime a dozen" said Wired, with Elon Musk undoubtedly their "fearless leader". The owner of SpaceX, Tesla and X has stated that the odds that we are actually living in "base reality" – namely the physical universe – are billions to one.  And the idea is also "surprisingly popular among philosophers and even some scientists", said The Guardian. 

Is there any evidence to back it up?
Dr Melvin Vopson, from the University of Portsmouth, has claimed recent developments in a branch of science known as information physics – which suggests that physical reality is made up of bits of information – "appear to support this possibility".

According to Indy 100, Vopson's Second Law of Infodynamics stated that "entropy – the degree of randomness or disorder – within an isolated information system either remains constant or decreases over time". In other words, said the news site, "the system becomes less and less chaotic, implying that there is some kind of mechanism governing it rather than random chance". But all of these claims require "significant further testing and verification before even being considered plausible", wrote Darren Orf for Popular Mechanics.

The Green Party, which saw unprecedented success in July's general election, has used its party conference to pitch itself as the party of hope against what it says is a "bleak" offering from Labour.

The Green Party has "grown significantly" in recent years, having gone from one to four MPs in the most recent general election. Membership increased from 53,000 at the end of 2023 to 59,000, and about 1,000 members, "half of them new", attended the party's annual conference in Manchester last week, said the Financial Times. 

Labour 'getting it wrong'
Deputy leader Zack Polanski used his conference speech to capitalise on his party's recent successes, pitching the Greens as the party of hope against a starker offering from Labour. He said that while there had been a "collective sigh of relief" at the end of 14 years of Conservative rule, Labour "promised change, but actually what they're offering is bleak".

If "the 2024 general election taught us anything, it was that voters can be flaky", said Sky News political correspondent Serena Barker-Singh. To counteract this the Greens "are hoping their strong election performance is a good foundation to build into longer-lasting support". Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay "are starting with communities they think are most disaffected with mainstream politics".

Ramsay also used the conference to outline the Greens' core policy goals, including nationalising water services, taxing the wealthiest, defending public services and stopping the Rosebank oilfield, saying that "in so many areas, Labour is getting it wrong".

'Growing pains'
But behind the party's successes lie internal divisions and "growing pains", said PoliticsHome. And "nowhere is this tension more stark" than on the battleground of gender identity. "With Labour's Corbynite flank welcomed into the fold, more traditional, environmentally focused Green Party members are feeling sidelined by the influx of younger, more socially liberal types who are often motivated by identity politics", said the news site. 

Beyond internal conflicts, the Green Party's stance on international issues is also increasingly coming into focus. At the Manchester conference, the party hosted a fringe event in collaboration with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), marking the first time they officially partnered with the group, "in a sign of the membership's increasing support for the Palestinian people", said The Independent.

If it hadn't actually happened, you'd never believe it was possible, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's rise from popular comic film and TV actor to president of Ukraine. Favourite fact? One of his last acting jobs was voicing the part of Paddington in the Ukrainian versions of the films. 

What makes his story even more incredible, is that, for four years, Zelenskyy starred in a political satire, "Servant of the People", about an ordinary school teacher who suddenly becomes, wait for it, president of Ukraine. 

In 2019, he stopped playing the role of president and started doing the actual job, using, said Dan Einav in the FT, his sitcom scriptwriters "to help shape his real-life campaign and agenda". Within three years, he and his country were fighting a war against Russia.

Perfect fodder then for this BBC Two documentary, "The Zelensky Story", which is as "astonishing as it is inspirational", said Sean O'Grady in The Independent. A "meticulous, sensitive, insightful" production, it "deserves to win the very highest of accolades the industry has to offer".

Told in three hour-long parts and directed by Michael Waldman, Zelenskyy's interviews are "genuinely revealing" and the first lady of Ukraine, his wife Olena's are "especially frank". She admits, too, to harbouring "a faint hope that he wouldn't win" the presidency. One gets the distinct feeling she would much rather her "genial" husband was still getting his kicks from primetime TV.

And as for what lies in store for the president, post-office? We learn that before this change in direction, his biggest dream was to win an Oscar. "Stranger things have happened". 

Whether Zelenskyy's great advantage as a leader in possession of "passion paired with performance skills" is "enough to drive back the Russian army", said Mangan, "we will have to wait and see".

Donald Trump was his own worst enemy in this debate
Kate Andrews for The Spectator
Donald Trump "struggled to land some simple points", and "struggled to stay on topic" during last night's debate, writes Kate Andrews, and "mostly, he struggled to resist that one task he had: to not take the bait". He "never landed the definitive blow on Harris's ideological leanings" and he "got through it as his own worst enemy: not too badly beaten up by Harris, but instead let down by his own rash impulses".

Kate's recovery is great news – but be wary of a soft-focus view of life after chemo
Hilary Osborne in The Guardian
"I am trying to imagine what a film announcing my recovery from cancer would have looked like," writes Hilary Osborne, "probably a bit like a trailer for a new zombie film" and "nothing like the video released by the Princess of Wales". I found her "glossy images of cancer's aftermath quite jarring", and "to anyone out there who worries that they can't relate: please be assured that other cancer sufferers may have made quite a different film".

The Tory Right is cruising towards victory
Henry Hill for The Telegraph
Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly will "surely do better in the third round" of the leadership contest when Mel Stride's "centrist supporters" are "redistributing their votes", writes Henry Hill, but "each has a lot of ground to make up". The two remaining candidates of the Right are "comfortably ahead" and "if they remain so", One Nation MPs will "start shifting towards choosing whichever of Badenoch or Jenrick they like best, or at least dislike worst".