Most people find that their friends have more friends than they do. Sociologist Scott Feld first observed this in 1991. The explanation is sampling bias: people with many friends are more likely to be someone's friend, so a random friend is more likely to be a well-connected person. Someone with very few friends is rarely anyone's friend. The same pattern shows up in other networks, such as people's sexual partners, who on average have more partners than they do.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.