EurekAlert! In the Spotlight

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: 21-Nov-2025 04:11 ET (21-Nov-2025 09:11 GMT/UTC)

1-Oct-2025

INFORMS names 12 Leaders and Innovators in Operations Research and Analytics for Class of 2025 Fellows

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Grant and Award Announcement

INFORMS, the world’s largest association for professionals and students in operations research (O.R.), AI, analytics and data science, has named 12 distinguished leaders as 2025 INFORMS Fellows, one of the highest professional honors in operations research, analytics and AI.

Collectively, this year’s Fellows represent trailblazing contributions in academia and industry and have advanced breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, supply chain resilience, clean energy, healthcare delivery and transportation systems, while also shaping the next generation of talent and serving as trusted advisors to organizations worldwide.

1-Oct-2025

Chatbots the new ‘doc?’ FAU researchers explore AI in health behavior coaching

Florida Atlantic University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Changing habits like quitting smoking or managing stress is hard – but crucial. Motivational interviewing (MI), a proven counseling method that sparks internal motivation, works well but isn’t widely used due to time and training demands. Now, AI tools like ChatGPT are stepping in, simulating MI conversations anytime, anywhere. A new review shows these tools are promising and well-received, but questions remain: Do they truly reflect MI’s core principles? Can they drive real, lasting change? The answer could reshape digital health interventions.

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

1-Oct-2025

New AI enhances the view inside fusion energy systems

Princeton University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new AI can fill in missing sensor data for fusion systems, offering even more detail than the real-world sensor could have provided. The AI, known as Diag2Diag, could prove essential for commercial fusion energy production by helping to reduce costs and ensure reliability. Diag2Diag also provided new support for a leading theory about controlling plasma disruptions, bringing us closer to using fusion to generate electricity for the power grid. Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University were part of an international team behind the research, which was recently published in Nature Communications.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/US Department of Energy, DOE/US Department of Energy, National Research Foundation of Korea, Princeton Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence

1-Oct-2025

AI-powered oil spill prediction system improves accuracy by up to 25%, with significant potential to enhance emergency response.

CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study, led by CMCC researchers, significantly improves oil spill trajectory predictions by integrating artificial intelligence with traditional numerical ocean models. The research shows how to obtain more accurate and timely forecasts, enabling faster analyses and scenario testing, which could be a crucial development for emergency response efforts.

Journal: Ecological Informatics

1-Oct-2025

New AI tool detects hidden warning signs of disease

McGill University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

McGill University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can detect previously invisible disease markers inside single cells.

In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers demonstrate how the tool, called DOLPHIN, could one day be used by doctors to catch diseases earlier and guide treatment options.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Fonds de recherche du Québec

1-Oct-2025

200 Years of KIT – October 7, 2025 will mark the 200th anniversary of its founding

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Book Announcement

On October 7, 2025, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) celebrates its anniversary. On the same day, exactly 200 ago, Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Baden, signed the founding decree for the Karlsruhe Polytechnic School, the first predecessor institution of today’s University of Excellence. The Grand Duke founded it out of his “concern for the education of our dear and loyal bourgeoisie.” Today, KIT is a place where science is shaping the future by contributing energy, mobility, and climate research as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

1-Oct-2025

Fears of Wikipedia’s end overblown, but challenges remain warn researchers

King's College London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

ChatGPT has not decreased activity on the world’s largest online encyclopaedia, but AI data scrapers and the influence of Large Language Models still cast a shadow over its future research suggests.

Journal: Collective Intelligence