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.

SpaceX to launch 15th Starship flight, seeking to achieve unprecedented round trip

SpaceX's latest Starship flight planned for Friday will include ⁠its ​first attempt to catch the spacecraft on a return landing at its Texas launch site, rather than discarding the vehicle at sea, a key test of Elon Musk’s bid to produce a ⁠fully reusable rocket system. The 407-foot-tall (124 m) Starship rocket was scheduled to launch at 4:45 p.m. CT (2245 GMT) from SpaceX's ⁠Starbase facilities in ⁠South Texas for its 15th flight since 2023 and the second to carry a batch of operational Starlink satellites to orbit. That makes the mission both ‌a revenue-generating endeavor for ‌its satellite-connectivity business and a high-stakes test for a ​next-generation rocketship still under development.