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: 25-Jun-2026 05:16 ET (25-Jun-2026 09:16 GMT/UTC)

22-Jun-2026

'A cautionary tale': Study challenges assumption about brain activity in movement disorders

Virginia Tech
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Virginia Tech's Fralin Biomedical Research Institute find activity in more easily accessible Purkinje cells in the cerebellum is not a reliable substitute for understanding activity in connected but less accessible deep cerebellar nuclei cells. The finding is important to both understanding and treating movement disorders, such as dystonia, ataxia, and tremor.

Journal: The Journal of Physiology
Funder: Dystonia Medical Research Foundation

22-Jun-2026

Insilico Medicine and SK Biopharmaceuticals achieved AI-powered drug discovery collaboration worth up to 2.5 billion for neuroimmune disorders

InSilico Medicine
Business Announcement

Insilico Medicine ("Insilico", 3696.HK), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, and SK Biopharmaceuticals, a Korean-based company leads the way in biotech innovation with groundbreaking drug research, development, and commercialization worldwide, announced a research and development collaboration at the BIO 2026 International Convention to discover AI-enabled innovative drug candidates in the neuroimmune area of the central nervous system (CNS).

22-Jun-2026

Flying robot rides the wind like a bird

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists built a flying robot that is both easy to control and energy-efficient, especially in changing wind conditions. The robot can change its shape and uses wind to stay in the air, instead of relying on thrust-generating motors. The idea is inspired by how birds fly which remain naturally stable when airborne. The work was published in npj Robotics on June 21, 2026.

Journal: npj Robotics

22-Jun-2026

Teacher feedback linked to stronger social and emotional skills

ECNU Review of Education
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Developing students' social and emotional skills is an important priority for both researchers and practitioners worldwide. A new study using data from the SSES 2023 student survey on Social and Emotional Skills has found that students' perceptions of teacher feedback vary across different groups of learners. The study also shows that all types of teacher feedback were positively associated with the five domains of student social and emotional skills (i.e., task performance, emotional regulation, engaging with others, open-mindedness, and collaboration), and that the teacher–student relationship played a mediating role in these associations.

Journal: ECNU Review of Education

22-Jun-2026

From experience to evidence: How Shanghai schools are using AI to transform classroom analysis

ECNU Review of Education
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This report presents evidence from primary and secondary schools in Shanghai, illustrating how schools use reports generated by an AI-based classroom analysis system to support instructional improvement across two levels and four types.

Journal: ECNU Review of Education

22-Jun-2026

As AI adoption accelerates, new SRI report examines what makes AI trustworthy

University of Toronto
Reports and Proceedings

As AI systems move from experimentation to real-world deployment, trust is emerging as a central challenge for adoption and governance. A new white paper from the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society proposes a multidisciplinary framework for understanding trust in human–AI interactions. Drawing on expertise from computer science, psychology, sociology, law, public policy, philosophy, and engineering, the report identifies six principles for building AI systems that are not merely trusted, but trustworthy.

22-Jun-2026

Researchers discover cause of neuron excitability in ALS

Les Turner ALS Foundation

Digging deep into the molecular mechanisms behind ALS, researchers at the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine have discovered why nerve cells overfire in the disease. Not only that—they have also designed a new drug to stop this overfiring, which could potentially slow or stop the disease from progressing.