
Scientists map part of a mouse's brain that's so complex it looks like a galaxy
CBSN
Thanks to a mouse watching clips from "The Matrix," 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 that 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 our 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.

Clashes between federal agents and protesters in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as the demonstrations against immigration detention operations stretched into their third day and National Guard troops began arriving in the city under orders from President Trump. Here's a timeline of how the protests unfolded in multiple locations around L.A.