EurekAlert! News by Subject: Tech & Engineering - News by Subject: Tech & Engineering

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-Apr-2026 11:15 ET (2-Apr-2026 15:15 GMT/UTC)

Scientists create ChatGPT-like AI model for neuroscience to build one of the most detailed mouse brain maps to date

Allen Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have created one of the most detailed mammalian brain maps to date using artificial intelligence to predict cellular regions based on molecular data. CellTransformer, the powerful AI model, used a ChatGPT-like process to understand regional organization based on brain cell (transcriptomic) data.

Journal: Nature Communications

Johns Hopkins researchers develop AI to predict risk of US car crashes

Johns Hopkins University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a significant step towards improving road safety, Johns Hopkins University researchers have developed an A.I.-based based tool that can identify the risk factors contributing to car crashes across the United States and to accurately predict future incidents.

Journal: Nature Communications

Powerful and precise multi-color lasers now fit on a single chip

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a compact light source that generates dozens of high-power wavelengths, paving the way for a new generation of data center hardware and portable sensing technologies.

Journal: Nature Photonics
Funder: ARO, ARPA-E, PINE, PIPES, EmPho Program, IMOD

In vivo gene therapy: lentiviral vectors into the spotlight

Fondazione Telethon

Lentiviral vectors, long used in ex vivo gene therapy, are gaining attention for in vivo use. Luigi Naldini, Director of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy and a pioneer in the field, emphasizes their untapped potential across tissues and diseases. Rising academic and industry interest marks a new era for scalable, versatile gene therapies.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Fondazione Telethon

The internet favors the development of flexible identities among language learners

University of Córdoba
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A review reveals that the interplay between technology, identity, and languages involves and encourages multiple identities, language mixing, and support for minority languages

Journal: International Journal of Multilingualism

Scientists agree chemicals can affect behavior, but industry workers more reluctant about safety testing

University of Portsmouth
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international study has revealed reluctance from industry scientists to testing chemicals for their effects on human and wildlife behaviour, despite growing evidence linking environmental pollutants to neurological disorders and behavioural changes.

Journal: Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management

DNA nanospring measures cellular motor power

University of Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Cells all require the transport of materials to maintain their function. In nerve cells, a tiny motor made of protein called KIF1A is responsible for that. Mutations in this protein can lead to neurological disorders, including difficulties in walking, intellectual impairment and nerve degradation. It’s known that mutations in KIF1A also result in a weakened motor performance, but this has been difficult to measure so far. Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan have measured changes in the force of KIF1A using a nanospring, a tiny, coiled structure, made of DNA which could lead to improved diagnosis of diseases related to the protein’s mutations.

Journal: eLife
Funder: Precise Measurement Technology Promotion Foundation, KIF1A.org Mini Grant, JSPS KAKENHI, JST CREST, JST PRESTO