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Title: Revisiting "scale-free" networks. Author: Keller EF. Journal: Bioessays; 2005 Oct; 27(10):1060-8. PubMed ID: 16163729. Abstract: Recent observations of power-law distributions in the connectivity of complex networks came as a big surprise to researchers steeped in the tradition of random networks. Even more surprising was the discovery that power-law distributions also characterize many biological and social networks. Many attributed a deep significance to this fact, inferring a "universal architecture" of complex systems. Closer examination, however, challenges the assumptions that (1) such distributions are special and (2) they signify a common architecture, independent of the system's specifics. The real surprise, if any, is that power-law distributions are easy to generate, and by a variety of mechanisms. The architecture that results is not universal, but particular; it is determined by the actual constraints on the system in question.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]