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 tool narrows the search for ideal material structures

Princeton University, Engineering School
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new machine learning tool developed at Princeton will enable researchers to sift through trillions of design options to predict which metal organic framework will be useful in laboratories or industrial applications.

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society

7-Jan-2026

New Mayo Clinic study advances personalized prostate cancer education with an EHR-integrated AI agent

Mayo Clinic
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed and evaluated MedEduChat, an electronic health record (EHR) that works with a large language model to provide accurate, patient-specific prostate cancer education.

Journal: npj Digital Medicine

7-Jan-2026

Artificial saliva containing sugarcane protein helps protect the teeth of patients with head and neck cancer

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy, applying radiation very close to the mouth can destroy some salivary glands and compromise saliva production, which is essential for controlling bacteria and disease

Journal: Journal of Dentistry
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

7-Jan-2026

Adverse prenatal exposures linked to higher rates of mental health issues, brain changes in adolescents

Mass General Brigham
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mass General Brigham investigators found an association between negative experiences during pregnancy and risk of mental health problems, such as depression, as children reached their teenage years

Journal: JAMA Psychiatry

7-Jan-2026

New AI tool can take a cattle’s temperature with only a photo

University of Arkansas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The tool developed at the University of Arkansas’s AICV Lab uses thermal images and machine learning to calculate the internal temperature of cattle.

Journal: Smart Agricultural Technology

7-Jan-2026

CUNY Graduate Center and its academic partners awarded more than $1M by Google.org to advance statewide AI education through the Empire AI consortium

The Graduate Center, CUNY
Grant and Award Announcement

The City University of New York Graduate Center (CUNY Graduate Center) has received a grant totaling more than $1 million from Google.org to support the work of Empire AI, a statewide consortium of 11 public and private academic institutions focused on advancing the effective integration of artificial intelligence into higher education. The award—which is the second such source of funding that the CUNY Graduate Center has received from Google.org to support AI literacy in higher education—will further the reach of a comprehensive, multi-institution assessment of how best to prepare students across all degree levels and disciplines for an AI-driven workforce.

Funder: Google.org

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 tool narrows the search for ideal material structures

New Mayo Clinic study advances personalized prostate cancer education with an EHR-integrated AI agent

Artificial saliva containing sugarcane protein helps protect the teeth of patients with head and neck cancer

Adverse prenatal exposures linked to higher rates of mental health issues, brain changes in adolescents

New AI tool can take a cattle’s temperature with only a photo

CUNY Graduate Center and its academic partners awarded more than $1M by Google.org to advance statewide AI education through the Empire AI consortium

Naval Research Lab sharpens Navy’s sights with a domain-centric path for smarter sensing