Chapter 1
The cosmic web and human networks
Chapter 2
Neurons and nebulae
Chapter 3
Self organization in space and society
Chapter 4
Life cycles of stars and civilizations
Ch 1 · The cosmic web and human networks
futura Cosmic Web Human Networks
Cosmic web and brain, structures align! Filament networks, truly divine!
futura The global internet mimics the decentralized, hub-and-spoke architecture of the cosmic web.
Fun Fact
Cosmic slime mold: Scientists used the growth patterns of yellow slime mold to map invisible dark matter webs connecting distant galaxies.
futura Human cities grow along transit lines just like galaxies cluster at the intersections of cosmic filaments.
Glossary
network (noun)
A group or system of interconnected people or things. In 2020, Italian scientists compared the universe's large-scale structure to neural pathways in the human brain.
A group or system of interconnected people or things. In 2020, Italian scientists compared the universe's large-scale structure to neural pathways in the human brain.
Quiz
Which physical force is primarily responsible for pulling matter together to form the cosmic web?
BETA
futura Weave cosmic stars together to learn how the universe's structure can organize human life.
Quiz
What invisible substance makes up about 85% of the universe's matter and forms the scaffolding of the cosmic web?
Quiz
Which city's transit system was famously modeled efficiently by slime mold in a famous 2010 experiment?
Quiz
Which organism's growth pattern was used by scientists in 2020 to map invisible cosmic dark matter filaments?
Quiz
What giant cosmic structure did astronomers Margaret Geller and John Huchra discover in 1989?
Quiz
What type of mathematical network describes both the internet and the clustering of galaxies?
Quiz
What are the dense regions where cosmic filaments intersect and galaxies cluster called?