The Reality Algorithm - on Stage Science Debate

Description of Activity

The Reality Algorithm
Host: Bjørn Ekeberg
Date of event: Sunday, September 20th
Time: 12:00
Venue: Arena

Physics is undergoing a revolution. The old idea of solid matter is losing ground, replaced by a new notion: Information. Supported by Stephen Hawking's work on black holes, which suggests information is conserved even when physical matter is destroyed, many physicists now argue that information is the new fundamental fabric of reality. But within this new orthodoxy there is no final agreement on what information actually is. The current winners are those who argue that information is physically encoded in quantum particles. Others contend the universe is a giant computer. Critics however argue that information is not physical at all but the means by which we construct our reality.

Should we see reality as information, and if so, how can a description of reality itself be reality? Or should we see information as a human invention, one born of our relationship to observation, data, language and meaning? At root, is information the way we make sense of the world, or the very stuff of the universe?

Intro:
The host sets out the debate (i.e. reads the debate description) and introduces the speakers. The role of the host is to lead the tone and pace of the debate, to focus the debate on the pitch and theme questions, and to get the speakers to interact with and challenge each other’s views.

Pitches:
Is information the way we make sense of the world, or the very stuff of the universe?

Introduction
12:00 Host introduction 90 sec

The Pitches: Is information the way we make sense of the world, or the very stuff of the universe?

12:02 Adam Frank 2 min
12:04 Melvin Vopson 2 min
12:06 Daniel Whiteson 2 min
12:08 Ivette Fuentes 2 min

The Debate

12:10 Theme 1: What is information, and can it be purely physical? 13 min
12:23 Theme 2: If information is a description of reality, or code for reality, how can a description of reality itself be reality? 13 min
12:36 Theme 3: What would be the consequences for physics and philosophy if we adopted the view that information is the fundamental nature of reality? 13 min
12:49 Audience Q&A 9 min
12:58 Host closing remarksEnd 2 min

Speaker Biographies

Adam Frank: Adam Frank is an American astrophysicist, writer, and public intellectual who serves as Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester. His scientific work probes the birth and death of stars: his research group developed advanced supercomputer tools to simulate how stars form and how they end their lives.

Frank is also a widely read cultural commentator on science. He co-founded the NPR blog Cosmos and Culture and now writes for the Big Think blog. His books, including Light of the Stars and The Blind Spot, explore what our cosmic discoveries might teach us about our future on Earth, the fragility of civilization, and the deep questions linking science, life, and human meaning.

Melvin Vopson: Melvin Vopson is a physicist and leading proponent of the view that the universe is fundamentally made of information. Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Portsmouth and Founder and CEO of the Information Physics Institute, Vopson has spent his career exploring the ultimate nature of reality.

His mass-energy-information equivalence principle and his second law of infodynamics have attracted international attention for their radical implications. Where the second law of thermodynamics tells us entropy in physical systems increases over time, Vopson found that entropy in information systems remains constant or falls — a finding with profound consequences for genetics, evolution, and our understanding of reality itself. He is also the author of Reality Reloaded: The Scientific Case for a Simulated Universe.

Ivette Fuentes: Ivette Fuentes is a Professor of Quantum Physics at the University of Southampton and Emmy Fellow at Keble College, University of Oxford. Her work considers fundamental quantum mechanics, quantum optics and their interplay with general relativity. Fuentes' work has appeared in New Scientist and she participated in a BBC series Magic Numbers with Hannah Fry. Fuentes is a close collaborator of Roger Penrose.

Fuentes' work tests theories of quantum gravity by developing much of the under-researched experimental input and quantum technology at scales where quantum and relativistic effects coexist.

Daniel Whiteson: Daniel Whiteson is an experimental particle physicist and professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of California, Irvine, whose work explores the deepest mysteries of matter, energy, and the unknown universe. He has worked at CERN's Large Hadron Collider on the ATLAS experiment and is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Whiteson is the co-author, with Jorge Cham, of We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe and Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe. Together they also host the podcast “Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe”. Whiteson's most recent book Do Aliens Speak Physics? asks if the common idea that maths and physics are a universal language is really true.

Period	20 Sept 2026
Event title	HowTheLightGetsIn London Festival: The Reality Algorithm Science Debate on Stage
Event type	Other
Location	London, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International