EurekAlert! News by Subject: Policy & Ethics

Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 4-Jun-2026 13:16 ET (4-Jun-2026 17:16 GMT/UTC)

18-Mar-2026

Fau Innovation Pilot Award supports pioneering shark bycatch solution

Florida Atlantic University
Business Announcement

A new shark deterrent developed at FAU could transform commercial fishing by dramatically reducing unintended shark bycatch. Created by Stephen Kajiura, Ph.D., the patent-pending device uses a simple zinc and graphite combination to generate a weak electric field that repels sharks without affecting target fish. Field tests have shown up to a 69% reduction in shark bycatch, offering a practical, low-cost solution to a persistent ecological and economic challenge.

18-Mar-2026

Framework for integration of geospatial data in environmental compliance reporting

Big Earth Data
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Environmental and sustainability compliance reporting is getting increasingly dependent on geospatial data and workflows. However, understanding of the connection between new European Union (EU) regulations and existing Earth Observation (EO) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies is limited. A new review study highlights how close alignment of law, data, and corporate practices can ensure that the geospatial workflows are fit for purpose in environmental and sustainability compliance reporting.

Journal: Big Earth Data
Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Land Salzburg

17-Mar-2026

UCLA to host first Brain Health Summit, bringing together national experts to address a growing public health crisis

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Meeting Announcement

UCLA Health will host its first-ever Brain Health Summit on March 20-21, bringing together leading scientists, policymakers, philanthropists and community advocates from across the country to address one of the most pressing and underfunded challenges in public health.

17-Mar-2026

Investors willing to pay a little more for green bonds

University of Texas at Austin
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Green investors often boast that they can support sustainability without sacrificing returns. But new research from Texas McCombs suggests otherwise. It also offers governments opportunities to raise more money from those investors for sustainable projects.

In Germany’s sovereign bond market, buyers are quietly paying a premium for green bonds — by accepting lower yields on them. So finds Aaron Pancost, assistant professor of finance, who calls the difference a “greenium.”

Journal: Journal of Financial Economics

17-Mar-2026

Postpartum Medicaid extensions cut uninsurance rates for Black women, yet equity gaps persist

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Postpartum uninsurance declined among Black women in non-expansion states during the COVID-19 continuous Medicaid coverage policy, but racial gaps persisted, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The research is the first to explicitly examine how the policy affected racial equity in postpartum insurance coverage while also considering states’ Medicaid expansion status under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Journal: American Journal of Preventive Medicine

17-Mar-2026

Shooting-free days decline in major US cities; new metric aims at building sustained periods of peace

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Between 2015 and 2024, the total number of days without firearm shootings declined in all but one of the ten largest U.S. cities—pointing to the need to newly focus on building and sustaining periods of peace with zero shootings.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum

17-Mar-2026

Climate change is fueling disease outbreaks

Stanford University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New Stanford-led research traces a direct line from warmer, wetter weather to a mosquito-borne disease epidemic. The findings could help inform policy and interventions to blunt such outbreaks.

Journal: One Earth
Funder: Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Scholarship, Montgomery County, Maryland, Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford King Center on Global Development, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Fogarty International Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences