"Iran has separate nodes of power, " Kosmides said.

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Each node contained a small processor, a sensor and a low-powered radio with just enough power to talk to adjacent nodes and the network was just smart enough to reconfigure itself to reroute data whenever one node got damaged.

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Protect the vital nodes of America's power grid and telecommunications systems.

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The utility uses the information drawn from these nodes to help it plan its power output.

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Distributed state meant that adding nodes also added capability and that ownership and power stayed distributed as the Net grew.

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These major nodes are not only critical to the nation's power-grid and telecommunications capability, but would be extremely difficult and time consuming to rebuild or repair.

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