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: 7-Nov-2025 03:11 ET (7-Nov-2025 08:11 GMT/UTC)

4-Jun-2025

MBARI welcomes new president and CEO Antje Boetius

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Business Announcement

MBARI is pleased to announce Antje Boetius as the institute’s president and CEO. A world-renowned polar and deep-sea researcher, Boetius will lead MBARI into an exciting new chapter in its work to develop and deploy innovative technology to understand our changing ocean.

Funder

David and Lucile Packard Foundation

4-Jun-2025

Biggest boom since Big Bang: Hawaiʻi astronomers uncover most energetic explosions in universe

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Hawaiʻi researchers discovered a new type of cosmic explosion, extreme nuclear transients, triggered when massive stars are torn apart by supermassive black holes.

Journal

Science Advances

4-Jun-2025

Unlocking the timecode of the Dead Sea Scrolls

University of Groningen
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By combining radiocarbon dating, palaeography, and artificial intelligence, an international team of researchers led by the University of Groningen has developed a date-prediction model that provides much more accurate date estimates for individual manuscripts Dead Sea Scrolls. Using this model, called Enoch, the researchers demonstrate that many Dead Sea Scrolls are older than previously thought.

Journal

PLOS One

Funder

European Research Council

4-Jun-2025

AI analysis of ancient handwriting provides new age estimates for Dead Sea Scrolls

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An AI program trained to study the handwriting styles of centuries-old manuscripts from the Middle East suggests that many of the Dead Sea Scrolls might be older than previously thought, according to a study published June 4, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Mladen Popović from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and colleagues. This method could give researchers a new way to place undated manuscripts into the timeline of ancient history.

Journal

PLOS One

4-Jun-2025

GPT-generated educational materials for urological cancer patients, translated by AI into five languages, are rated by doctors as easier to read than human-authored versions while being just as clear, accurate and complete

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

GPT-generated educational materials for urological cancer patients, translated by AI into five languages, are rated by doctors as easier to read than human-authored versions while being just as clear, accurate and complete

Journal

PLOS One

4-Jun-2025

Core components for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope pass major shake test

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Business Announcement

The core portion of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch. Passing this key milestone brings Roman one step closer to helping answer essential questions about the role of dark energy and other cosmic mysteries.