In this scenario, the agent becomes a central node in a marketplace of suppliers and authors, making connections and helping authors get reliable help turning their story into an actual book.

FORBES: Crowdfunding: An Opportunity For Agents As Well As Authors

In the event of a pending conflict in the Taiwan Strait, destroying a series of U.S. satellites--the central node of U.S. networks--could effectively paralyze U.S. combat capabilities, denying them the initiative on the battlefield and leveling the operational playing field.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: China's assymetrical strategy

"Taking that position out makes it very difficult for al Qaeda to talk to the field and increasingly makes the central node in Pakistan weak, with minimal day-to-day impact on what's going on overseas, " said Seth Jones, an al Qaeda specialist at Rand Corp.

WSJ: Drone Strike Kills al Qaeda No. 2

However, this tool, too, has only limited applicability, as it cannot get at the central temporal node of the brain where much basic reward activity takes place.

ECONOMIST: Neuroeconomics: Do economists need brains? | The