EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Artificial Intelligence

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.

New study in "geology" on how diamonds make their rapid ascent

Geological Society of America
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Kimberlites—carrot-shaped volcanic pipes that erupt from mantle depths greater than 150 km—have long fascinated geologists as windows into the deep Earth. Their mantle-derived melt ascends rapidly through the mantle and crust, with some estimates suggesting ascent rates of up to 80 miles per hour before kimberlites erupt violently at the surface. Along the way, the magma captures xenoliths and xenocrysts, fragments of the rocks encountered on its path. Over 70% of the world’s diamonds are mined from these unique volcanic structures. Yet despite decades of study, scientists are still working to understand how exactly kimberlites erupt from deep in Earth’s mantle to the surface. In a study published this month in the journal Geology, Anzulović and colleagues from the University of Oslo have taken a major step toward solving the puzzle.

Journal: Geology

23-Sep-2025

USC researchers win $8 million NIH grant to pursue novel Alzheimer’s drug

Keck School of Medicine of USC
Grant and Award Announcement

Backed by the combined expertise of three USC schools, scientists are developing a new drug aimed at a previously unexplored biological target in Alzheimer’s disease, aided by an $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The team, led by Hussein Yassine of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is investigating why some carriers of the APOE4 gene — the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s — develop dementia while others remain cognitively healthy. His lab has identified an enzyme that predisposes the brain to inflammation and the research team is now working to find a drug that can block it without harmful side effects. Their work points to an enzyme which breaks down protective omega-3 fatty acids in the brain and triggers damaging inflammation.

Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

23-Sep-2025

Ethical robots and AI take center stage with support from National Science Foundation grant

Virginia Tech
Grant and Award Announcement

Virginia Tech researchers received a grant worth more than $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to expand robot theater, an after-school program that helps children explore robotics through performance-based learning. Funding will help researchers refine the program, add artificial intelligence ethics components, and share the curriculum more broadly.

23-Sep-2025

Smart device uses AI and bioelectronics to speed up wound healing process

University of California - Santa Cruz
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A wearable device called “a-Heal,” designed by engineers at UC Santa Cruz, aims to optimize each stage of wound healing the process. Preclinical tests show the device speeds healing by about 25% compared to standard care. The system offers personalized treatment and can be particularly useful for patients with limited access to in-person medical treatment.

Journal: npj Biomedical Innovations
Funder: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

23-Sep-2025

uOttawa developing AI-powered tool to personalize diets for people living with IBD

University of Ottawa
Grant and Award Announcement

Researchers at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) will play a central role in the development of a promising AI tool aimed at supporting personalized dietary strategies for people living with IBD, thanks to a $10 million in funding from the Weston Family Foundation over the next three years.

Funder: Weston Family Foundation

23-Sep-2025

UC Davis researchers look at how the brain prioritizes what we see

University of California - Davis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

How we focus our attention before we even see an object matters. For example, when we look for something moving in the sky, our expectation would be very different if the object is a bird flying past or a baseball coming straight at us. But it’s unclear whether our brain’s attention focuses first on a broad characteristic of the anticipated object, such as movement, or a specific feature — such as the direction of movement up or down. Researchers from the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis, addressed this by analyzing electrical brain activity with machine-learning methods.

Journal: Neuroscience
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Science Foundation

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

Latest News Releases

New study in "geology" on how diamonds make their rapid ascent

USC researchers win $8 million NIH grant to pursue novel Alzheimer’s drug

Ethical robots and AI take center stage with support from National Science Foundation grant

Smart device uses AI and bioelectronics to speed up wound healing process

uOttawa developing AI-powered tool to personalize diets for people living with IBD

UC Davis researchers look at how the brain prioritizes what we see

UCLA to lead $16 million national study on artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening