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A recent study details a new mathematical model, dubbed 'hidden metric space', which scientists believe could be used to remove bottlenecks within complex networks and the internet. The study suggests that there is a hidden metric space in the underlying geometric frameworks of networks that helps make routing decisions.

Echoing the premise of the six degrees of separation theory - that everyone in the world is only a maximum of six acquaintances away from anyone else - the researchers point out that natural networks appear to transmit signals very efficiently using only a small number of local 'hops'.

To investigate this process the researchers built mathematical models of complex networks, which revealed that many have structures that maximises communication efficiency.

"Discovery of such a metric space hidden beneath the internet could point toward architectural innovations that would remove this bottleneck," said Kimberly Claffy, director of the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis.