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: 30-Dec-2025 02:11 ET (30-Dec-2025 07:11 GMT/UTC)
1-Dec-2025
Roadmap for reducing, reusing, and recycling in space
Cell PressPeer-Reviewed Publication
Every time a rocket is launched, tons of valuable materials are lost, and huge amounts of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals are released into the atmosphere. Publishing December 1 in the Cell Press journal Chem Circularity, sustainability and space scientists discuss how the principles of reducing, reusing, and recycling could be applied to satellites and spacecraft—from design and manufacturing to in-orbit repair and end-of-life repurposing.
- Journal
- Chem Circularity
- Funder
- UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, Surrey-Adelaide Partnership Fund
1-Dec-2025
Mayo Clinic researchers develop 3D scanning approach for ultra-precise brain surgery
Mayo ClinicPeer-Reviewed Publication
Mayo Clinic researchers have developed and tested a new 3D surface scanning approach that gives neurosurgeons even greater precision when operating deep inside the brain.
- Journal
- Journal of Neurosurgery
1-Dec-2025
Artificial tendons give muscle-powered robots a boost
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPeer-Reviewed Publication
MIT engineers developed artificial tendons that could connect robotic skeletons and biological muscle tissue. Made from tough and flexible hydrogel, the tendons could be used in various bio-hybrid robots.
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Funder
- U.S. Department of Defense Army Research Office, MIT Research Support Committee, U.S. National Science Foundation
1-Dec-2025
Singing mice speak volumes
Cold Spring Harbor LaboratoryPeer-Reviewed Publication
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Arkarup Banerjee and colleagues find that Alston’s singing mice use the same brain region to produce songs and ordinary communications. The lab's research offers new insight into the evolutionary origins of complex behaviors. In time, it could have implications for artificial intelligence as well as people with profound autism or stroke-induced aphasia.
- Journal
- Current Biology
- Funder
- BRAIN Initiative, Searle Scholars Program, Pershing Square Foundation, Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, International Society for Neuroethology Konishi Research Award, George A. and Marjorie H. Anderson Fellowship
1-Dec-2025
Machine learning identifies senescence-inducing compound for p16-positive cancer cells
Impact Journals LLCPeer-Reviewed Publication
BUFFALO, NY — December 1, 2025 — A new research paper featured on the cover of Volume 17, Issue 11 of Aging-US was published on October 30, 2025, titled “SAMP-Score: a morphology-based machine learning classification method for screening pro-senescence compounds in p16 positive cancer cells.”
- Journal
- Aging-US
1-Dec-2025
Leveraging Chemistry42, Insilico nominates ISM3830 as preclinical candidate targeting CBLB for advanced tumors immunotherapy
InSilico MedicineBusiness Announcement
Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”), a clinical-stage, generative AI-driven drug discovery company, today announced the nomination of ISM3830, a potential best-in-class, oral available, highly selective CBLB inhibitor with AI-empowered novel scaffold, as a preclinical candidate against multiple advanced tumors.