Behold the moon-bound rock stars of space

The full moon of April was a reminder of how the silvery orb shapes the course of life on Earth. This week, NASA and its international partners marked an exciting milestone as the Artemis program moved a step closer to its goal to establish a long-term human presence on the lunar surface. NASA has revealed four astronauts who will lead the first crewed moon mission in more than half a century. Researchers at New York’s Rockefeller University have developed a virtual reality maze for lab mice to study how memories are stored. They found that long-term memories took root in an area of the brain that hasn’t typically been associated with memory processing, the anterior thalamus. This suggests the brain region should be a key area of study for researchers attempting to help patients with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease who are able to recall old memories but may have trouble remembering new information.