indiejade - Slashdot User

Submission + - Newfound Planet "Theoretically Should Not Exis

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indiejade

on Tuesday August 07, 2007 @08:06PM

indiejade writes: "Various sources are reporting on the discovery of an extra-solar planet that is "20 times larger than Earth and circling a star 1,400 light-years away." It is thought to be the largest planet found so far for which we actually know the size, and one which some scientists say "theoretically should not even exist." TrES-4 is approximately "70 percent larger than Jupiter," according to Georgi Mandushev, the Lowell Observatory astronomer and lead author of the paper announcing the discovery."

Submission + - Mapping the Net, Node by Node (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by

indiejade

on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @07:54PM

indiejade writes: "To the Big Node: little node Department Creating a unique functional mapping of the Internet, one that plots topography as well as function, was the goal of researchers at the Bar Ilan University in Israel. Their findings rank nodes according to efficiency. "The increased use of peer-to-peer communications could improve the overall capacity of the Internet and make it run much more smoothly," their study concluded.

"A dense core of 80 or so critical nodes surrounded by an outer shell of 5,000 sparsely connected, isolated nodes that are very much dependent upon this core. Separating the core from the outer shell are approximately 15,000 peer-connected and self-sufficient nodes. Take away the core, and an interesting thing happens: about 30 percent of the nodes from the outer shell become completely cut off. . . . Three distinct regions are apparent: an inner core of highly connected nodes, an outer periphery of isolated networks, and a mantle-like mass of peer-connected nodes. The bigger the node, the more connections it has."

The mapping, which was based on data from the assistance of 5,000 online volunteers, was published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences magazine."

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