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 project to safeguard AI systems used in scientific research

University of Illinois School of Information Sciences
Grant and Award Announcement

AI is increasingly used in scientific research. But how can we be sure the datasets and models that power this research are trustworthy and not compromised? VERITAS, a multidisciplinary project led by a University of Illinois researcher and supported by a National Science Foundation grant, seeks to establish AI assurance as a core function of research infrastructure.

27-Jul-2026

AI model advances scientific discovery with soil carbon research

Cornell University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

ITHACA, N.Y. – A new computer model from Cornell University researchers is one of the first artificial intelligence tools to advance scientific discovery in agriculture and biogeochemistry and is 50 times more efficient than its predecessors.

Journal: Geoscientific Model Development

27-Jul-2026

Multiple USC-led projects receive U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission awards to advance AI

University of Southern California
Grant and Award Announcement

Six projects involving USC researchers — including three led by USC — were selected for the U.S. Department of Energy initiative to harness artificial intelligence for scientific discovery and innovation.

27-Jul-2026

Texas A&M University joins the Genesis Mission to transform science using artificial intelligence

Texas A&M University
Grant and Award Announcement

Four projects from Texas A&M research are announced as part of the Genesis Mission.

27-Jul-2026

UCSB-led international team evaluates anoxic marine basins as potential sites for carbon sequestration

University of California - Santa Barbara
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Could taking plant biomass and burying it in the deep, anoxic parts of the ocean be a workable large-scale strategy for carbon sequestration? The concept has been intriguing scientists for years, and now a recent international workshop led by UC Santa Barbara researchers has taken the very first steps toward developing it.

Journal: Biogeosciences

27-Jul-2026

Research focuses on Rwanda to help root out online propaganda in languages overlooked by AI

Dartmouth College
Reports and Proceedings

Dartmouth researchers report KinyaProp, the first digital tool for detecting online misinformation and propaganda in Kinyarwanda, the national language of Rwanda—and possibly the first for any Bantu language. Led by Dartmouth senior Fabrice Niyigaba, the study shows that KinyaProp—a digital glossary of examples of propaganda in Kinyarwanda—enables commercial platforms such as Claude and ChatGPT to identify loaded and misleading language with high precision similar to their performance in English. The project could be foundational for developing these tools in Swahili, Zulu, and other languages in the close-knit Bantu family, which, despite being spoken by 350 million Africans, are significantly overlooked in AI research, the team reports.

Meeting: 2026 Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics

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 project to safeguard AI systems used in scientific research

AI model advances scientific discovery with soil carbon research

Multiple USC-led projects receive U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission awards to advance AI

Texas A&M University joins the Genesis Mission to transform science using artificial intelligence

UCSB-led international team evaluates anoxic marine basins as potential sites for carbon sequestration

Research focuses on Rwanda to help root out online propaganda in languages overlooked by AI

UNC-Chapel Hill astronomers identify one of the universe’s rarest black hole events