the generic geometric and dynamical properties of biological networks that underlie quarter-power allometric scaling are: (1) they are space filling (so every cell of an organism, for instance, must be serviced by the network); (2) the terminal units, such as capillaries or cells, are invariant within a given design (so, for instance, our cells and capillaries are approximately the same as those of mice and whales); and (3) the networks have evolved to be approximately optimal (so, for instance, the energy our hearts have to use to circulate blood and support our cells is minimized in order to
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