Super nodes dominate network behavior

Nature : “The complex behaviour of a network can be fully captured by tracking a few crucial nodes,” writes Julie Rehmeyer for Nature. Researchers are developing mathematical techniques to study a wide range of natural, technological, and socioeconomic systems, ranging from the internet to the human body. To demonstrate their technique, Yang-Yu Liu of Northeastern University in Boston and colleagues studied the human metabolic network. They found that the levels of the body’s approximately 2700 metabolites could be calculated from just 10% of them. The researchers say the same technique could be used to predict political elections or follow changes in an ecosystem.