A new Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) funded by the U.S. Army Research Office aims to unlock the mysteries of the brain’s hidden half. Multidisciplinary teams of scientists will investigate astrocytes and their potential as models for next-generation AI systems. The MURI is led by University of Maryland Physics Professor Wolfgang Losert, Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor John Fourkas, Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Sahil Shah and Associate Professor Behtash Babadi; and Claremont Colleges Associate Professor of Physics Sarah Marzen.

The experimental technology, developed at an Applied Research Center at the State University of Campinas, is already accurate in over 80% of analyses. The research was presented during FAPESP Week London.

A new Dartmouth study shows octopuses can use mirrors to find food out of sight, demonstrating spatial cognitive abilities. The results are published in Current Biology.

researchers at Virginia Tech have developed an “acoustic atom” — a chip-scale device that traps and controls sound waves in ways that mimic the behavior of real atoms. Long term, these advances could influence technologies connected to quantum artificial intelligence (AI), telecommunication, medical imaging, GPS, and more.

Researchers have discovered a new way that brain plasticity is controlled in early life, offering insight into the little-understood phenomenon of critical-period closure.

A new UN University report warns that artificial intelligence is driving rapidly escalating environmental costs far beyond electricity use alone, including major impacts on water consumption, land use, carbon emissions, mineral extraction, and e-waste. The report estimates AI-related electricity demand could nearly triple by 2030, with associated emissions comparable to those of entire industrialized nations. It also highlights widening global inequities, with environmental burdens concentrated in regions supplying minerals and hosting infrastructure while benefits flow elsewhere. The authors call for urgent international action, including transparency standards, efficiency-focused design, resource limits, sustainable infrastructure planning, and stronger environmental governance across the full AI lifecycle.