Reuters Science News Summary
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Cellular atlas created for the basal ganglia, a key brain region
Scientists have assembled a cellular atlas of a crucial brain region called the basal ganglia involved in functions such as movement, decision making, emotions and habit formation — an accomplishment that could help guide new treatments for several devastating diseases. The researchers mapped the cell types and cellular gene activity in the basal ganglia, an interconnected set of structures deep within the brain, in humans as well as in mice and in macaque and marmoset monkeys. Basal ganglia dysfunction is associated with conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and addiction.
Euclid mission data release spans more than 900 million galaxies
The European Space Agency has released its first big collection of data from the orbiting Euclid telescope's mission to map the universe's large-scale structure, including observations of more than 900 million galaxies, as scientists investigate the puzzling cosmic components dark matter and dark energy. The data unveiled on Thursday covered a survey of the sky equal to about 9,500 times the size of the moon as viewed from Earth. The mission's goal is to complete the largest-ever three-dimensional atlas of the cosmos, spanning more than a third of the sky, in 2031.
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