India, Aug. 16 -- Exactly what's going on up there?

The first-ever map of a 1-cubic-mm fragment of human brain has been completed, after 10 years, and the findings have thrown up numerous surprises.

Keep in mind, as you read, that 1 cubic mm is about half the size of a grain of rice.

The fragment, taken from the temporal cortex of an anonymous person with severe epilepsy, was analysed by researchers at the Lichtman Lab at Harvard University, with help from neuro-connectomics scholars at Google Research.

Inside, the researchers say, they found a mini-universe: 150 million synapses and 9 inches of blood vessels in a delicate tapestry, in addition to what amounts to 1,400 TB of data - proof that the brain's wiring is far more complicated...