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: 10-Jan-2026 09:11 ET (10-Jan-2026 14:11 GMT/UTC)
Hardware vulnerability allows attackers to hack AI training data
North Carolina State UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
Researchers have identified the first hardware vulnerability that allows attackers to compromise the data privacy of artificial intelligence (AI) users by exploiting the physical hardware on which AI is run.
- Meeting
- IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture (MICRO)
AI breakthrough helps astronomers spot cosmic events with just a handful of examples
University of OxfordPeer-Reviewed Publication
A new study co-led by the University of Oxford and Google Cloud has shown how general-purpose AI can accurately classify real changes in the night sky — such as an exploding star, a black hole tearing apart a passing star, a fast-moving asteroid, or a brief stellar flare from a compact star system — and explain its reasoning, without the need for complex training.
- Journal
- Nature Astronomy
FITSA: A new method to solve 50-year-old problem in molecular analysis
Estonian Research Council- Journal
- Science Advances
- Funder
- Estonian Research Council
Frontiers champions research integrity and responsible AI at Indo-Swiss workshop in New Delhi
FrontiersBusiness Announcement
Scientists develop end-to-end encryption for git services
University of SydneyPeer-Reviewed Publication
New imaging tech promises to help doctors better diagnose and treat skin cancers
University of ArizonaGrant and Award Announcement
- Funder
- NIH/National Institutes of Health