Get in synch — or be enslaved by it | Science Blog

Get in synch — or be enslaved by it | Science Blog: “On one hand, synchronization is necessary for communication and information processing. On the other hand, synchronization can blow violently out of proportion and enslave everything it is in contact with,” explains Ralf Toenjes of Ochanomizu University. He and his colleagues show that adding only a few links to a network can have such a strong effect that even this modest addition can mark the difference between random noise and coherent synchronization. They devised a method of control that enables them to balance the system at states that are actually unstable and usually not observed.