Axios

A combination of gene editing and growing tiny clusters of brain cells in the lab can be used to figure out how certain genes are involved in the brain's development and disorders, researchers reported.

Why it matters: Mutations in hundreds of genes are known to be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, but how they affect the function of neurons is largely unknown. Understanding their impact could inform therapies that target the genes and the processes they affect.

An extended period of torrential rainfall led to severe flooding across New York City, from New Jersey through all five boroughs and extending northeast into Connecticut.

Threat level: More than eight inches of rain have fallen in the region as of Friday evening, with pictures on social media showing cars flooded up to the tops of their windows, roadways converted to lakes, and water pouring into basement apartments.

This week's Harvest Moon — the last supermoon of the year — reached its brightest illumination early Friday morning.

The big picture: A supermoon occurs when the moon is at its closest orbital point to Earth, making it appear bigger and brighter than normal, according to NASA.

Canada's wildfire season, already the worst on record, went "completely off the rails" during the past week, scientists tell Axios.

The big picture: Enough land area burned in the past week to make the seven-day-period comparable to nearly an entire typical fire season across Canada, according to Merritt Turetsky of the University of Colorado.