EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Artificial Intelligence

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: 31-Dec-2025 07:11 ET (31-Dec-2025 12:11 GMT/UTC)

20-Nov-2025

This moss survived 9 months directly exposed to the elements of space

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mosses thrive in the most extreme environments on Earth, from the peaks of the Himalayas to the sands of Death Valley, the Antarctic tundra to the lava fields of active volcanoes. Inspired by moss’s resilience, researchers sent moss sporophytes—reproductive structures that encase spores—to the most extreme environment yet: space. Publishing in the Cell Press journal iScience on November 20, their results show that over 80% of the spores survived 9 months outside of the International Space Station (ISS) and made it back to Earth still capable of reproducing, demonstrating for the first time that an early land plant can survive long-term exposure to the elements of space.

Journal: iScience
Funder: Hokkaido University, JSPS KAKENHI, Astrobiology Center of National Institutes of Natural Sciences

20-Nov-2025

AI psychosis risk: LLMs fail to challenge delusions, experts warn

JMIR Publications

JMIR Publications Launches New Article Rethinking AI Safety: Examining Large Language Models’ Role in Psychological Destabilization

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

20-Nov-2025

Can generative chatbots that err be trusted teachers?

Stevens Institute of Technology

Pedagogical chatbots, which have become more capable and widely available with the rise of generative AI, promise to transform personalized learning at scale by providing individualized, on-demand support to students. But generative AI is not without fault. Sometimes chatbots make mistakes, provide incomplete information, invent facts, or misconstrue logic, which may harm their users’ learning. A new study sheds light on whether users can detect those errors and suggests ways to improve AI-powered teaching.

20-Nov-2025

Efficient clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-based gene activation using combinatorial human transcription activation domains

Higher Education Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This study presents a comprehensive benchmarking of human-derived transcription activation domains (hTADs) for use in CRISPR-based artificial transcription factors (ATFs), aiming to circumvent the immunogenicity associated with viral TADs like VP64 and VPR. The authors systematically compared eight hTADs—CITED1, CITED2, MYB, KLF7, CSRNP1, NFZ, MSN, and p65HSF1—fused to dCas9. While several hTADs surpassed VP64 in activating a synthetic EGFP reporter, none outperformed VPR at endogenous gene targets.

Journal: Protein & Cell

20-Nov-2025

AI-assisted interviews increase accuracy in diagnosing mental illness

Lund University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study shows that an AI assistant can conduct assessment conversations with patients with higher accuracy than the rating scales used in healthcare today. In the study, 303 participants were interviewed by the AI assistant Alba, who then suggested possible psychiatric diagnoses.

Journal: Scientific Reports

20-Nov-2025

Mayo Clinic physicians map patients’ brain waves to personalize epilepsy treatment

Mayo Clinic
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new, personalized approach to deep brain stimulation (DBS) for people with drug-resistant epilepsy. By mapping each patient's unique brain wave patterns, the method allows physicians to target the precise area in the brain where stimulation is most effective, moving beyond the traditional one-size-fits-all approach.

Journal: Annals of Neurology
Funder: Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute

20-Nov-2025

AI helps unlock secrets of Europe's prehistoric 'green gemstone' trade

University of Seville
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A multidisciplinary team develops a method based on Artificial Intelligence that determines with great precision the provenance of prehistoric archaeological materials

Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science