Good Question: Can Computers Help Us Tour The Universe?

(CBS 5) -- Imagine if it were possible to fly through galaxies, to tour the universe at light speed. In this Good Question: Can technology take us to where no person has gone before?

ANSWER: According to physicist Ryan Wyatt at the California Academy of Science, computers are being used to simulate everything from cell structure to what is in our galaxy.

Special effects can be used in a setting such as a planetarium to show what is in our galaxy even though it's beyond our physical reach. It is often called "science visualization" and is based in real scientific measurement.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)