Biology is buy fut coins hiding secrets well We just don't have the right tools to grasp the complexity of what's going on.Bruno Olshausen The rub is that we still don't completely understand how thebrain works, but scientists are pushing forward in this as well.The Chinese are working on what they call the Brainnetdome, described as anew atlas of the brain, and in the U.S., the Era of Big Neuroscienceis unfolding with ambitious,multidisciplinary projects like President Obama's newly announced and much criticised Brain Research Through Advancing InnovativeNeurotechnologies Initiative -- BRAINfor short.

The BRAIN planning committee had its first meeting this pastSunday, with more meetings scheduled for this week. One its goalsis the development of novel technologies that can map the brain'smyriad circuits, and there are hints that the project will alsofocus on artificial intelligence. Half of the $ million (£ million) in federal funding allotted to this program will come fromDarpa -- more than the amount coming from the National Institutesof Health -- and the Defence Department's research arm hopesthe project will "inspire new information processingarchitectures or new computing approaches.