Reality is a mathematical structure, says MIT physicist Max Tegmark — his “mathematical universe hypothesis,” reports Science Now.

“If the mathematical universe hypothesis is false, that means that the future of physics is ultimately doomed,” says Tegmark. However, “if the mathematical universe hypothesis is true, we can actually learn things about the parts of our universe we can’t see or visit. … The road ahead is open, and our future understanding is really only limited by our imagination.

“We’ve discovered again and again that reality is bigger than we thought…our whole observable universe is just … part of a much bigger space, with lots of parallel quantum realities.”