We are not most certainly not alone in this universe. And regarding the fact whether we are simulation, there are lots of things in universe that leads us there but doesnt prove it decisively. Until anything is proven or disproven its as good as "sphaghetti monster theory". I personally think string theory is big pile of bollocks. Once hadron collider becomes totally functional it might be possible to test this theory. There have already been heated debates about string theroy so I want keep away from one now. If you want to have a look at those debates have a look here. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/12/1946214 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/24/1645255 http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1556241 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/29/1735237