"Mapping a Medusa" article in Science News
In Science News, June 23, 2007, there's an article that provides a new simile for us as we try to conceive of what the internet really is.
"After enlisting the help of thousands of volunteers to track how digital information weaves around the world, researchers can offer a new simile: The Internet is like a medusa jellyfish. It has a dense core surrounded by a highly connected body, from which tentacles dangle."
"The researchers describe the Internet as being like a jellyfish because they found that it has three layers. Forming the core are the 100 or so most tightly connected subnetworks, including groups such as Google and AT&T Worldnet. The rest of the jellyfish's body consists of a much larger group of subnetworks that are highly connected to one another and to the core. The remaining subnetworks, about 20 percent of the total, can communicate with the outside world only by passing information through the core. They form the jellyfish's tentacles." (Science News, June 23, 2007, Julie J. Rehmeyer)
The Science News article isn't available to nonmembers, but here's a link to the original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0601240
and more news is promised in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Just wanted to share this. Seems rather fascinating to me. Always looking for ways to think about what in the world is going on!
a8575_1721.jpg
"After enlisting the help of thousands of volunteers to track how digital information weaves around the world, researchers can offer a new simile: The Internet is like a medusa jellyfish. It has a dense core surrounded by a highly connected body, from which tentacles dangle."
"The researchers describe the Internet as being like a jellyfish because they found that it has three layers. Forming the core are the 100 or so most tightly connected subnetworks, including groups such as Google and AT&T Worldnet. The rest of the jellyfish's body consists of a much larger group of subnetworks that are highly connected to one another and to the core. The remaining subnetworks, about 20 percent of the total, can communicate with the outside world only by passing information through the core. They form the jellyfish's tentacles." (Science News, June 23, 2007, Julie J. Rehmeyer)
The Science News article isn't available to nonmembers, but here's a link to the original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0601240
and more news is promised in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Just wanted to share this. Seems rather fascinating to me. Always looking for ways to think about what in the world is going on!
a8575_1721.jpg
Tags: information, internet, neurology, science
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