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: 2-Jan-2026 20:11 ET (3-Jan-2026 01:11 GMT/UTC)
23-Sep-2025
New study reveals how the brain organizes and directs its slowest activity
Universidad Miguel Hernandez de ElchePeer-Reviewed Publication
The study, published in iScience, shows that the directionality of slow waves in the cerebral cortex depends on neuronal excitability and not only on anatomy.
- Journal
- iScience
- Funder
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia, Generalitat Valenciana, European Union–NextGenerationEU
23-Sep-2025
Moving abroad as a child becomes a professional superpower in adulthood
University of VaasaReports and Proceedings
A new doctoral dissertation from the University of Vaasa, Finland, yielded surprisingly positive results about the long-term effect of an international childhood. Moving abroad can be a challenging and emotional experience for a child, but in the long run, adjusting to a new culture at a young age develops skills that become useful in future studies and career. In professional life, this is reflected by an ability to seamlessly integrate into diverse teams and cultures, and seeking roles with an international dimension.
23-Sep-2025
Frontiers Forum Deep Dive series: Well-publicized polar geoengineering ideas will not help and could harm, warn experts
FrontiersMeeting Announcement
Join this webinar tomorrow (24 September) to examine the scientific and policy challenges of deploying five well-publicized polar geoengineering tools as a climate mitigation strategy.
23-Sep-2025
AngleNet: a game-changer in atmospheric humidity retrieval
Journal of Remote SensingPeer-Reviewed Publication
A new deep-learning model, AngleNet, significantly improves the retrieval accuracy of atmospheric relative humidity (RH) profiles from ground-based microwave radiometers (MWRs).
- Journal
- Journal of Remote Sensing
23-Sep-2025
Smart blood: How AI reads your body's aging signals
University of ViennaPeer-Reviewed Publication
Could a simple blood test reveal how well someone is aging? A team of researchers led by Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna, Austria, and Nankai University, China, has combined advanced metabolomics with cutting-edge machine learning and a novel network modeling tool to uncover the key molecular processes underlying active aging. Their study, published in the Nature Journal npj Systems Biology and Applications, identifies aspartate as a dominant biomarker of physical fitness and maps the dynamic interactions that support healthier aging.
- Journal
- npj Systems Biology and Applications
23-Sep-2025
Purifying radioactive soil with sunlight alone... DGIST successfully developed “artificial plant” technology
DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology)Peer-Reviewed Publication
- A research team led by Professor Seongkyun Kim of the Department of Physics and Chemistry, DGIST, developed an artificial plant device that simulates plant transpiration
- Purified more than 95% of soil contaminated by radioactive cesium within 20 days using solar energy alone- Journal
- Environmental Science & Technology