EurekAlert! In the Spotlight

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.

Q&A: Has nature always been strange? The ‘eco-weird’ unmakes the familiar

Penn State

Tentacles reaching from the deep. Dark mold overtaking walls. A familiar forest suddenly becoming strange and threatening. These elements in literature, film and games define the “eco-weird,” a term coined by Penn State philosopher Brian Onishi to describe an emerging genre focused on the strangeness that can emerge from the ambiguity of the environment and humans’ experience of and relationship to it. Onishi explained in the following Q&A what the eco-weird is and how it may help individuals build resiliency in a changing world.

12-Jun-2025

Playing to learn? It works, but it has its limits

Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral

A new ESPOL study reveals that turning learning into a game can improve grades in STEM subjects, but it doesn't necessarily motivate students more. The research was based on the theory of Gamified Learning and was applied to 175 engineering students. One group was implemented with a weekly leaderboard system (like video game rankings), and the other was not

Journal: International Journal of STEM Education

12-Jun-2025

United Nations launches global call-to-action to accelerate social progress through AI-powered virtual worlds

International Telecommunication Union
Business Announcement

UN Virtual Worlds Day urges international cooperation on emerging technologies—from digital twins to AI-enabled virtual environments.

12-Jun-2025

Broad-spectrum coronavirus drug developed through AI-enabled dynamic modeling

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By creating a cohesive AI-enabled and physics-based molecular modeling and drug discovery pipeline built around film industry animation software, researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University identified the orally available, FDA-approved drug bemcentinib, as a potential antiviral agent. They then used this chemical compound as a launch pad for developing a more specific and effective antiviral drug with efficacy against a broad range of coronaviruses, which has great potential for fighting future respiratory pandemics.

Journal: Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

12-Jun-2025

UTA student, Army vet begins mission to teach

University of Texas at Arlington

As the Army celebrates its 250th anniversary on Saturday, it's fitting to highlight The University of Texas at Arlington's nationally recognized Military and Veteran Services office that serves more than 5,000 military-connected students. One of those students is Army veteran Rafael Renteria. At age 52, Renteria has found a new mission: teaching the next generation.

12-Jun-2025

How artificial intelligence can learn from mice: Neural Networks benefit from biological data

Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The ability to precisely predict movements is essential not only for humans and animals, but also for many AI applications — from autonomous driving to robotics. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now discovered that artificial neural networks can perform this task better when trained with biological data from early visual system development.

Journal: PLOS Computational Biology
Funder: European Research Grant

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

Latest News Releases

Q&A: Has nature always been strange? The ‘eco-weird’ unmakes the familiar

Playing to learn? It works, but it has its limits

United Nations launches global call-to-action to accelerate social progress through AI-powered virtual worlds

Broad-spectrum coronavirus drug developed through AI-enabled dynamic modeling

UTA student, Army vet begins mission to teach

How artificial intelligence can learn from mice: Neural Networks benefit from biological data

Towards decoding the nature of word recognition