An anonymous reader writes: Geoffrey West, a physicist who aimed to unfurl the secrets to urban life discovered a formula that exposes not what makes cities unique, but rather what makes them all the same. Geoffrey West explains, "Look, we all know that every city is unique. That's all we talk about when we talk about cities, those things that make New York different from L.A., or Tokyo different from Albuquerque. But focusing on those differences misses the point. Sure, there are differences, but different from what? We've found the what"