Investigative journalist turned prosaic storyteller Svetlana Alexievich has won a special German literary prize for promoting peace. The 65-year-old has written extensively on several key chapters of modern history.

The Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association has awarded its 2013 peace prize to Belarusian journalist and author Svetlana Alexievich.

The board on Thursday praised the investigative journalist, saying she "has consistently and effectively traced the lives and experiences of her fellow citizens in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine by articulating their passions and sorrows in a humble and generous manner."

The economic crisis has seen revenue streams for the creative industries in Spain dry up. Now, in the capital city of Madrid, a new scheme is encouraging people to support young artistic talent by adopting an artist.

Since visiting a cramped art studio in her neighbourhood during an open house in December 2012, Teresa Navajas has been working on innovative ideas to help support contemporary artists in Madrid. What used to be a large, vacant space on top of a church in downtown Madrid is today a vibrant studio shared by seven young artists.

Scientists have created the highest resolution 3D digital model yet made of a human brain, showing features as small as 20 micrometres across - thinner than a human hair and almost on the scale of individual cells.

At 50 times the resolution of any available anatomical atlas of the brain "BigBrain" will give scientists their closest look yet at the structures that underlie aspects of the organ, ranging from cognition and language to ageing and disease.