EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Artificial Intelligence

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This month, we’re focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), a topic that continues to capture attention everywhere. Here, you’ll find the latest research news, insights, and discoveries shaping how AI is being developed and used across the world.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 4-Jun-2026 13:16 ET (4-Jun-2026 17:16 GMT/UTC)

23-Mar-2026

An end to the battle between touchscreens and long fingernails is on the horizon

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Anybody who’s ever tried to use their smartphone with long nails knows that there’s a learning curve. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just type with your fingernails instead? To try and make this solution a reality, a group of researchers are formulating a clear nail polish that could turn long fingernails into touchscreen-compatible styluses. The researchers will present their results at ACS Spring 2026.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2026

23-Mar-2026

Engineering high-efficiency mutants of the transposase ISDra2 TnpB via protein-generative models and energy-optimized design

Beijing Zhongke Journal Publising Co. Ltd.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a paper published on aBIOTECH, the authors developed a method termed TnpB-GMRE, which integrates a generative protein model for TnpB with a virtual screening pipeline based on the minimum recovery rate and energy minimization, to obtain a TnpB-TD mutant with enhanced editing activity.

Journal: aBIOTECH

23-Mar-2026

Cao’s digital twin expertise helps global farmers

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Electrical Engineering and Computer Science associate professor Charles Cao leads UT’s role in HARVEST, an NSF AI‑ENGAGE project building AI-powered “digital twins” of farms. Combining drone, sensor, and satellite data, the system runs real-time and “what-if” simulations to reduce pest losses 20–30% and cut water and fertilizer use 20%, while preserving cross-country data privacy.

23-Mar-2026

A UC San Diego tool teaching code to 25 million is even more critical in age of AI

University of California - San Diego

When generative AI began writing code with uncanny fluency, it sparked a major question: If a chatbot can build software, do people still need to learn how to code?

23-Mar-2026

From dog soundboards to smarter AI: What animal communication reveals

University of California - San Diego

Why does studying animal communication matter — and what might it teach us about building better AI? What can humans learn by mapping the cognitive abilities of other species, including their own pets? Federico Rossano, associate professor of cognitive science at the University of California San Diego and director of the Comparative Cognition Lab, is pursuing those questions with groundbreaking work to understand animal intelligence — most famously through his research on how dogs use soundboard “word buttons” to communicate with humans.

23-Mar-2026

INL partners with industry to dig deep into organic waste disposal

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

When most people think of tree nuts, they imagine a tasty snack — not the parts of the nut that get left behind. But for Houston-based startup Vaulted Deep, a fibrous byproduct from nut agriculture is one ingredient in a bold new approach to waste management. Thanks to a recent collaboration with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), that vision is one step closer to realization.

22-Mar-2026

Single-cell imaging and machine learning reveal hidden coordination in algae’s response to light stress

INsociety
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from several Parisian institutions worked together to develop a non-destructive approach to study how unicellular organisms respond to stress, focusing on cell-to-cell differences.

Journal: New Phytologist
Funder: HORIZON EUROPE European Innovation Council