Latest Six degrees of separation Stories

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The familiar “six degrees of separation” concept, which posits that any two people on Earth are no more than six acquaintance links apart, applies to the Internet as well, according to new research that finds any two Web pages are separated by no more than 19 clicks. That conclusion is quite remarkable given the estimated 14 billion Web pages and 1 trillion Web documents in existence today. Hungarian physicist Albert-Laszlo...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This December, actor and musician Kevin Bacon has a few ideas for Generous Procrastinators--those of us who wait until the clock runs out on December 31(st) to support the causes close to our hearts (and get that tax credit). While we deck the halls, light the menorah, prepare the feast of karamu, shop 'til we drop, and ring in the new year, Kevin Bacon reminds us to take a little time to celebrate the good in this small world and...

The infamous “six degrees of separation” is shrinking apparently. Facebook, and researchers from the Laboratory for Web Algorithmics of the Università degli Studi di Milano in Milan Italy, have determined that the average number of people who separate any two individuals in the world is actually 4.74, Steven Musil of CNET is reporting. The original six degrees of separation testing came from Stanley Milgram’s 1967 “small world experiment”, which drew on 296 volunteers and pegged...

UC San Diego and Harvard deliver first experimental findings on spread of cooperation in a social networkFor all those dismayed by scenes of looting in disaster-struck zones, whether Haiti or Chile or elsewhere, take heart: Good acts "“ acts of kindness, generosity and cooperation "“ spread just as easily as bad. And it takes only a handful of individuals to really make a difference.In a study published in the March 8 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "I was just following orders." From Abu Ghraib to Nazi Germany, this Nuremberg Defense has been heard throughout history. It also sparked the curiosity of psychologist Dr. Stanley Milgram, which led to his Obedience to Authority experiment. The test began in 1961 and the purpose was to examine if human beings would follow the instructions of an authority figure, even if the commands were morally questionable. When news about...

16th edition of landmark webcast demonstrates the six degrees of separation between Daryl and The Bacon Brothers NEW YORK, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Live From Daryl's House celebrates its sweet 16th episode this month with Daryl Hall welcoming The Bacon Brothers. Award-winning actor Kevin Bacon and his brother, film/TV music composer Michael Bacon, perform their trademark gritty rock with a touch of soul that traces back to their Philadelphia roots, the hometown they share with Daryl. The...

By MCDONALD, Greer THE theory of six degrees of separation -- that everyone is only six introductions away from any other person in the world -- appears to be real -- but Kiwis may be separated by only two. Microsoft studied more than 30 billion electronic conversations among 180 million people and found that on average 6.6 "hops" were needed to link two apparently unconnected people. Some people were separated by as many as 29 steps but 78 per cent of the pairs could be connected in...

A study conduced by researchers at Microsoft Corp. used instant messaging data to confirm the theory that it takes just under seven steps to link every one in the world. The researchers reached their conclusion based on the addresses of 30 billion instant messages sent among 180 million people worldwide during a single month in 2006. They found that, on average, any two people are linked by fewer than seven acquaintances.The "six degrees of separation" theory has long intrigued people, even...

By Peter Whoriskey The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- Turns out, it is a small world. The so-called small world theory, embodied in the old saw that there are just "six degrees of separation" between any two strangers on Earth, has been largely corroborated by a massive study of electronic communication. With records of 30 billion electronic conversations among 180 million people from around the world, researchers have concluded that any two people on average are distanced by just 6.6...