Boston College physicist Qiong Ma named a 2025 Moore Inventor Fellow by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Grant and Award Announcement
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.
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-Jan-2026 21:11 ET (3-Jan-2026 02:11 GMT/UTC)
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation selected Boston College Assistant Professor of Physics Qiong Ma as one of five creative scientists in the tenth cohort of Moore Inventor Fellows. Professor Ma’s invention of “twistronic” artificial synapses is connecting discoveries in advanced materials directly with neuroscience-inspired computing. The fellowship was launched in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law, the groundbreaking prediction by Gordon Moore of exponential growth in computing power. The 2025 awards mark the fulfillment of a ten-year $35 million commitment to support “50 inventors to shape the next 50 years.” In that time, the program has been supporting breakthrough tools and technologies that accelerate progress in scientific discovery, environmental conservation, and patient care.
The Rotating Detonation Engine offers the ability to deliver satellites to precise orbits in outer space with greater robustness and reduced fuel consumption and emissions than with current conventional engines. However, there are many fundamental scientific challenges that remain related to designing materials systems that can perform under these extreme engine conditions. A new multi-institutional collaborative $2 million grant, "Thriving While Detonating – Materials for Extreme Dynamic Thermomechanical Performance,” led by Natasha Vermaak, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, addresses some of these materials design challenges.
The Observer A.I Power Index 2025, published by Observer, the digital media chronicling the world's power players, has officially been released, recognizing 100 global leaders driving the future of artificial intelligence across industries. Insilico Medicine's founder, CEO & CBO, Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, was selected for his unique contributions at the intersection of biotechnology and AI.
A new AI framework improves how complex systems with unequal decision-makers like smart grids – traffic networks, and autonomous vehicles – are managed. Unlike traditional models that assume equal influence and timing, this approach uses a Stackelberg-Nash game structure, where leader agents act first and followers respond optimally. It also features an event-triggered mechanism that updates decisions only when needed, cutting computational load. The result is smarter, more efficient AI that adapts to real-world uncertainty, limited resources, and hierarchical decision-making.
Strength and coordination change over the course of our lives, decreasing dramatically with age. But when it comes to the fine motor skills of our hands and fingers, this is not the case. This discovery was made by a research group led by UZH developmental pediatrician Oskar Jenni. Percentile reference curves could make reduced performance more recognizable in practice.