BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

BRAIN STUDY

A team of Chinese scientists has mapped out how hippocampus neurons connect with other areas in the brain of a mouse. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that plays a major role in learning, memory and feelings.

The team’s results revealed some previously unknown principles of organization concerning hippocampal axon projections, generating more clues to how our brain works and suggesting potential targets for brain diseases, according to the study published in the journal Science.

QUEQIAO-2

China’s Queqiao-2, a relay satellite for communications between the far side of the moon and Earth, is scheduled for launch in the first half of this year, the China National Space Administration said.

The satellite has been transported to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan, and pre-launch tests will be carried out as scheduled, the agency said.

PRIMATE PREGNANCY STUDY

Chinese scientists have revealed the characteristics of the metabolic changes of primates during pregnancy, which is expected to help study the mechanism of diseases during pregnancy.

Pregnancy induces dramatic metabolic changes in females, but the intricacies of this metabolic reprogramming remained unclear, especially in primates.

Using cynomolgus monkeys, researchers constructed a comprehensive multi-tissue metabolome atlas, analyzing 273 samples from 23 maternal tissues during pregnancy.