outlines in reference to the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Applications to earth sciences Many networks studied in geology and geophysics have been shown to have characteristics of small-world networks. Networks defined in fracture systems and porous substances have demonstrated these characteristics. The seismic network in the Southern California region may be a small-world network. The examples above occur on very different spatial scales, demonstrating the scale invariance of the phenomenon in the earth sciences. Applications to computing Small-world networks have been used to estimate the usability of information stored in large databases. The measure is termed the Small World Data Transformation Measure. The greater the database links align to a small-world network the more likely a user is going to be able to extract information in the future. This usability typically comes at the cost of the amount of information that can be stored in the same repository. The Freenet peer-to-peer network has been shown to form a small-world network in simulation, allowing information to be stored and retrieved in a manner that scales efficiency as the network grows. Small-world neural networks in the brain Both anatomical connections in the brain and the synchronization networks of cortical neurons exhibit small-world topology. Structural and functional connectivity in the brain has also been found to reflect the small-world topology of short path length and high clustering. The network structure has been found in the mammalian cortex across species as well as in large scale imaging studies in humans. Advances in connectomics and network neuroscience, have found the small-worldness of neural networks to be associated with efficient communication. In neural networks, short pathlength between nodes and high clustering at network hubs supports efficient communication between brain regions at the lowest energetic cost. The brain is constantly processing and adapting to new information and small-world network model supports the intense communication demands of neural networks. High clustering of nodes forms local networks which are often functionally related. Short path length between these hubs supports efficient global communication. This balance enables the efficiency of the global network while simultaneously equipping the brain to handle disruptions and maintain homeostasis, due to local subsystems being isolated from the global network. Loss of small-world network structure has been found to indicate changes in cognition and increased risk of psychological disorders. In addition to characterizing whole-brain functional and structural connectivity, specific neural systems, such as the visual system, exhibit