Scaling in Biological and Social Networks - Abstract - Moses
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Melanie Moses, Computer Science Department, University of New Mexico
Scaling of Distribution Networks in Organisms, Societies & Information Systems
Networks distribute energy, materials and information to the components of a variety of natural and human-engineered systems, including organisms, societies, and computer networks. Distribution networks enable integrated and coordinated functioning of these systems, and they may also constrain their design and function. I review Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST) which proposes that the structure of biological networks results in 1/4 power scaling of many rates and times with body mass. I then extend MST and explore how well it characterizes other systems including human societies, ant colonies, urban road networks and networks of transistors on microprocessors.