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: 3-Nov-2026 06:16 ET (3-Nov-2026 11:16 GMT/UTC)

21-Sep-2026

Artificial photosynthetic hydrogel microspheres enable programmable CO2 valorization

Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, a team led by Profs. WANG Bo and YU Tao from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed an artificial photosynthetic hydrogel microsphere (APHM) which integrates photocatalysis, microbial CO₂ fixation and downstream biotransformation within a single platform, providing a new route for programmable CO₂ valorization.

Journal

Journal of the American Chemical Society

21-Sep-2026

Researchers develop lightweight collaborative AI agent for materials research

Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study published in Nature Machine Intelligence, a team led by YU Xuefeng from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a lightweight dual-model collaborative artificial intelligence (AI) agent, MatBrain, to support materials research by enabling AI to both reason about scientific problems and execute research tasks.

Journal

Nature Machine Intelligence

21-Sep-2026

JMIR news: Deepfake physician scams and nursing robotics

JMIR Publications
Reports and Proceedings

JMIR Publications released two feature News and Perspectives articles this week covering deepfake scams impersonating physicians and novel applications of robotics in bedside nursing.

Journal

Journal of Medical Internet Research

21-Sep-2026

Tracing 700 million years of cell evolution

King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new AI tool helps identify hidden similarities across distant species.

Journal

Nature Communications

21-Sep-2026

 

Taming heat at the nanoscale to satiate energy-hungry artificial intelligence

International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers built more energy-efficient and high-performance phase change random access memory by learning how to sculpt heat within a nanometer-thin sandwich of materials. They engineered a "double-confined" structure that stacks alternating slices of antimony telluride (Sb₂Te₃) with two distinct helper compounds: highly conductive nickel ditelluride (NiTe₂) and heat-blocking molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe₂).

Journal

International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing

21-Sep-2026

 

Two University of Tennessee MSE faculty contribute to DOE Genesis Mission

University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Grant and Award Announcement

Three faculty members in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Tickle College of Engineering are co-principal investigators (co-PIs) on research projects funded by the Department of Energy’s new Genesis Mission, a $5 billion program to create a national ecosystem of AI tools and services that will help researchers address pressing energy, scientific, and engineering challenges.

21-Sep-2026

Early prediction of non-recovery in drug-induced liver injury by integrating genetic variants and clinical variables: an interpretable machine learning approach

Xia & He Publishing Inc.

Early predictors of 6-month non-recovery in drug-induced liver injury (DILI) remain limited. Genetic variants are stable host characteristics that may complement baseline clinical variables. We aimed to develop and validate an interpretable, clinical-genetic machine learning model for predicting 6-month non-recovery in patients with DILI.

Journal

Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology