Een team wetenschappers heeft donderdag aangekondigd dat ze een nieuwe manier hebben ontdekt waarop het brein leert en informatie opslaat die kan verklaren waarom mensen zich eenmalige gebeurtenissen of nieuwe plaatsen herinneren.

Wat is nieuw: al bijna een halve eeuw hebben wetenschappers herinneringen begrepen als gevormd door neurale verbindingen die worden versterkt door korte repetitieve stimulaties, de Hebbiaanse regel. In de nieuwe studie vonden onderzoekers een nieuwe methode van leren (BTSP genaamd), waarbij herinneringen over een langere tijd (seconden versus milliseconden) en zonder herhaling in een deel van de hersenen kunnen worden gevormd.

Why this is important: It offers scientists a new way of looking at memory and could eventually inform our understanding of memory disorders. Julija Krupic, who published a perspective on this study in Science, wrote: "The authors have identified an intriguing new phenomenon...which eventually will tell us how we learn and remember new places and events that happen there."

What it means: Both processes likely play a part in memory formation. "Our study expands the repertoire of tools that neurons use to store information, and provides a mechanism for previously unexplained single trial learning of long event sequences," study co-author Aaron Milstein told Axios.

Why it makes sense: "Learning something new (e.g., a list of words) very often requires going over the material to be learned multiple times, and the more one repeats the material the better the learning and the subsequent memory... Nevertheless, and it is everyone's common experience, one is also able to form long-lasting memories with a single experience (e.g., remembering the name of a person just met or the address of a new restaurant)," Gianluigi Mongillo, of the French National Centre for Scientific Research who was not part of this study, told Axios.

Sean Hannity was revealed as Michael Cohen's mystery third client in a Manhattan federal court proceeding today — after the judge ruled that the client's identity must be disclosed. Hannity later denied that Cohen had ever represented him "in any matter."

Why it matters: If Hannity was one of Cohen clients, he failed to disclose that information when covering the Cohen raid on his Fox News program.

Russia has taken a slower tack on legislation that would ban imports of a list of U.S. products in retaliation for U.S. sanctions on Russian oligarchs revealed ten days ago, per Bloomberg. The vote on the plan, which was introduced Friday, is now delayed until May 15.

Why it matters: It might just be a signal for the U.S. — the Kremlin has not announced whether it backs the legislation, and per Reuters, the “Russian parliament is often used to send assertive messages to foreign states, but these do not always translate into concrete measures." This comes the same day President Trump walked back threats of imposing more sanctions on Russia.

The Boring Co., which plans to dig tunnels for hyperloop mass transit, has raised nearly $113 million in venture capital funding, according to an SEC filing.

Digging in: Elon Musk himself is not listed on the filing, but this is very much his company (and, yes, is the same one that recently sold flamethrowers). The only listed executive is Jared Birchall, who also is involved in Musk's Neuralink project, while SpaceX engineer Steve Davis is a director. None of the 31 participating investors are disclosed.

The 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winners were announced Monday.

The big winner: The New York Times won the most awards with three prizes for Public Service, National Reporting and Editorial Cartooning. It won the most awards last year as well.

President Trump is holding off on rolling out sanctions announced yesterday by UN ambassador Nikki Haley that would punished Russian companies that manufactured equipment used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in its alleged chemical weapons attack, per The Washington Post. The report details that the White House is officially approaching Haley's announcement as a "misstatement," but notes that one official said "there had been confusion internally about what the plan was."

Why it matters: The decision is sure to add to the perception that Trump is often unwilling to harshly punish Russia, especially after WashPost's report yesterday that detailed his anger over the scope of the expulsions of Russian diplomats from the United States in response to the Skripal nerve agent attack in England.

Protestors took the streets around the world this weekend — over cronyism in Japan, the detention of separatist leaders in Spain, authoritarianism in Hungary, rape scandals in India and airstrikes in Syria.

The bigger picture: The U.S. isn't the only country living through a period of protest and political unrest.

Amazon is suspending plans to sell and distribute prescription drugs and instead will continue to focus on "less sensitive" medical supplies, CNBC reports. Logistics and hospitals' current relationships forced Amazon to abandon its plans, although they could be revived.

The big picture: The thought of Amazon's cost-cutting tactics entering health care in a bigger way has routinely freaked out the industry, but it turns out health care is complicated. Stock prices of companies in the drug supply chain, like McKesson and CVS, shot up sharply on the news.

Coinbase is acquiring Earn.com, a paid inbox service formerly known as 21 inc., with CEO Balaji Srinivasan joining as chief technology officer, confirming Axios's earlier reporting.

Bottom line: Coinbase is gaining a well-known figure in Silicon Valley and digital currencies as its CTO, while Earn.com, which began as a bitcoin mining company in 2013, gains stability as part of a larger company.

There's a race to 5G and the U.S. is not winning — China and South Korea are, according to a report conducted by research firm Analysys Mason and released today by CTIA, the wireless industry association.

Why it matters: The first country to deploy and commercialize the ultra-fast 5G mobile networks will have an enormous economic advantage— $500 billion in GDP and 3 million U.S. jobs, per a 2017 Accenture study.

SoftBank is among several possible buyers for newspaper publisher Tronc, Axios has learned from a source familiar with the situation. This comes just days after a NY Post report that private equity firm Apollo is also kicking Tronc's tires.

Why it matters: Financial buyers have mostly avoided newspapers in recent years, fearing they don't have the digital chops to offset declining print revenue.

The world is reeling as China — which once imported 9 million metric tons of foreign plastic waste per year — implements new regulations that ban 24 different types of garbage from its shores, reports CNBC.

Why it matters: The measure, implemented in January, is forcing the United States, the U.K., Japan and the EU to find a new destination for their trash. Chinese customs data for the first quarter of 2018 showed that the country's solid waste imports dropped 54%.

More than 140 members of Parliament signed a letter to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May pressuring her to give amnesty to thousands of British residents who arrived from the Caribbean as children between 1948 and 1971. In response, May has agreed to meet with representatives of 12 Caribbean countries this week, according to the Guardian.

Why it matters: Members of the "Windrush generation," named for the ship that transported some of the first Caribbean migrants to the U.K., often did not receive official paperwork confirming their legal status upon their arrival. Due to a 2012 rule change, many are now facing difficulty working and receiving health care in the U.K. — despite it being the only home they've ever known.

After a string of weekend tweets blasting former FBI director James Comey, President Trump continued his attacks Monday morning. His latest tweet, which alleges that Comey and other top leadership at the FBI "committed many crimes," comes after Comey called Trump "a serial liar" in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

Go deeper: The premiere of "The Comey Show"

President Trump is set to give a speech on prescription drug prices on April 26, Axios has learned, though the date could change. The speech will coincide with a rollout of a request for information (RFI) from the Department of Health and Human Services on different drug price policy ideas, according to Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley. Trump will also talk about drug price proposals included in the president's budget.

Why it matters: This was a major campaign issue for Trump — and the White House has been accused of not taking action on the issue. It's a concern for both Republicans and Democrats and action is likely to be popular with voters. However, it's worth noting that the request for information isn't a concrete policy change and it is unclear what will be in it.

Tesla's first-quarter earnings call in a couple weeks just got even more interesting. On Friday Musk shot back via Twitter at The Economist over their story headlined "Tesla is heading for a cash crunch," which cited analyst predictions that Tesla will need to raise more money from capital markets: "Tesla will be profitable & cash flow+ in Q3 & Q4, so obv no need to raise money," Musk tweeted.

Why this matters: It's a bold claim because profitable quarters have been extraordinarily rare in the company's history.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday clarified his claim during a TV interview Sunday that he convinced President Trump to keep troops in Syria "long-term." He now says that he "never said" the U.S. and France should maintain a military presence in Syria, AP reports, adding that he believes the U.S. has realized that its responsibility in Syria is to address humanitarian crises and the fight against ISIS.

The backdrop: Macron's Sunday comments spurred pushback from the White House which put out a statement saying, "The U.S. mission has not changed — the President has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible."

"Investors, bankers and analysts [expect] a wave of initial public offerings to bring some of the most highly valued and recognizable start-ups to the public market over the next 18 to 24 months," the New York Times' Jack Nicas reports from San Francisco.

Why it matters: That means "billions of dollars in returns to their executives and investors," the report says.

"In battle over Russia policy, Trump’s aides are winning" ... The WashPost reports on "a tension at the core of the Trump administration’s increasingly hard-nosed stance on Russia."

The bottom line: Trump, a "reluctant hawk," "instinctually opposes many of the punitive measures pushed by his Cabinet that have crippled his ability to forge a close relationship with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin."