With Mouse's Help, a Map Sheds Light on the Human Brain

 

"Scientists have created the largest functional map of a brain to date -- a diagram of the wiring connecting 84,000 neurons as they fire off messages.

Using a piece of a mouse's brain about the size of a poppy seed, the researchers identified those neurons and traced how they communicated via branch-like fibers through a surprising 500 million junctions called synapses.

The massive dataset, published Wednesday by the journal Nature, marks a step toward unraveling the mystery of how human brains work. The data, assembled in a 3D reconstruction colored to delineate different brain circuitry, is open to scientists worldwide for additional research -- and for the simply curious to take a peek.

"It definitely inspires a sense of awe, just like looking at pictures of the galaxies," said Forrest Collman of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, one of the project's leading researchers.

"You get a sense of how complicated you are," Collman said. "We're looking at one tiny part. . .of a mouse's brain and the beauty and complexity that you can see in these actual neurons and the hundreds of millions of connections between them."" [1]

1.  U.S. News: With Mouse's Help, a Map Sheds Light on the Human Brain. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Apr 2025: A2.

JAV naujienos: kandidatas vadovauti Nacionalinei aeronautikos ir kosmoso administracijai nori pradėti misiją į Marsą

 „Prezidento Trumpo kandidatas vadovauti Nacionalinei aeronautikos ir kosmoso administracijai (NASA) sakė, kad sieks išsiųsti astronautus į Marsą ir grąžinti Ameriką į Mėnulį.

 

 Jaredas Isaacmanas per Senato Prekybos komiteto patvirtinimo posėdį pareiškė, kad palaikys Marso iniciatyvą – sudėtingą misiją, kurią propagavo prezidentas Trumpas, taip pat tęsdamas, ilgai atidėtą, Artemidės nusileidimo Mėnulyje programą.

 

 „Neturime priimti dvejetainio Mėnulio ir Marso sprendimo, arba Mėnulis turi būti pirmas prieš Marsą“, – sakė jis. "Manau, kad galėtume lygiagrečiai dėti šias pastangas."

 

 Isaacmanas, 42 metų aviacijos ir kosmoso verslininkas, 2021 ir 2024 m. skridęs į privačias kosmines misijas su „SpaceX“, apibūdino Marso misiją, kaip prioritetą. Jis taip pat sakė, kad nori toliau naudoti Tarptautinę kosminę stotį.

 

 „Turime kuo geriau išnaudoti kosminę stotį, kol ją turime“, – sakė Isaacmanas.

 

 Kai kurios jo pastabos prieštarauja pozicijoms, kurių ėmėsi D. Trumpo patarėjas ir „SpaceX“ generalinis direktorius Elonas Muskas, pavyzdžiui, kosminės stoties pasitraukimas anksčiau, nei NASA planas apie 2030 m. sunaikinti šį objektą. „SpaceX“ yra pagrindinis NASA ir kitų federalinių agentūrų rangovas.

 

 Trumpas yra sakęs, kad JAV „padės Amerikos vėliavą Marso planetoje ir net toli už jos ribų“, nors neseniai pareiškė, kad kelionė į Marsą nėra jo pirmasis prioritetas.

 

 Tikimasi, kad Senato komitetas balsuos dėl Isaacmano paskyrimo vėliau šį mėnesį." [1]

 

1.  U.S. News: NASA Pick Wants to Pursue Mission To Mars. Niiler, Eric; Maidenberg, Micah.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Apr 2025: A2.  

U.S. News: NASA Pick Wants to Pursue Mission To Mars

 

"President Trump's nominee to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said he would push to send astronauts to Mars and return America to the moon.

Jared Isaacman said at his Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing that he would support the Mars initiative, a challenging mission that has been promoted by President Trump, while also advancing the long-delayed Artemis moon-landing program.

"We don't have to make a binary decision of the moon versus Mars, or the moon has to come first versus Mars," he said. "I think we could be paralleling these efforts."

Isaacman, a 42-year-old aerospace entrepreneur who flew on private space missions with SpaceX in 2021 and 2024, described a Mars mission as a priority. He also said he wanted to maintain use of the International Space Station.

"We need to make the most use of the space station while we have it," Isaacman said.

Some of his remarks clash with positions that Trump adviser and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken, such as retiring the space station sooner than NASA's plan to bring the facility down around 2030. SpaceX is a key contractor at NASA and other federal agencies.

Trump has said that the U.S. would "plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond," though he recently said going to Mars wasn't his first priority.

The Senate committee is expected to vote on Isaacman's nomination later this month." [1]

1.  U.S. News: NASA Pick Wants to Pursue Mission To Mars. Niiler, Eric; Maidenberg, Micah.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Apr 2025: A2.