And they are not mining, they are simply running a (super) node (IP: 82.130.102.160) with their University Internet access. Their Node has nearly 1500 connections to other nodes, including a direct connection to blockchain.info.
Therefore they are able do distribute fund blocks faster through the network than the miner himself.
See the big orange spot here: https://blockchain.info/nodes-globe?series=topBlockRelay that's them.
So everything is alright.
Wow, quite a nice link
Just wondering,
1- Mining on a pool does not count as a node... true ?
2- Running a bitcoin client 24/7 with 8 connections, this is a node ? ( If yes, I can see my lonely tiny blue bar on that cute globe quite interesting and funny ! )
I'll enjoy an answer to both question ( I presume : yes and yes)!
Yes and yes. (But the pool itself is a node)
But on that globe you see only nodes that have a direct connection to blockchain.info. Its pretty unlikely, that you have one if you only have 8 connections. I have between 30 and 50 (always somewhere between that) and have never seen my IP in blockchains IP list.