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Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 10-Jun-2026 20:15 ET (11-Jun-2026 00:15 GMT/UTC)

As nights warm, study flags possible prenatal link to autism risk

Tulane University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Children of mothers exposed to higher than typical nighttime temperatures during weeks 1-10 of pregnancy had a 15% higher risk of being diagnosed with autism. Exposure during weeks 30-37 was associated with a 13% higher risk. The findings add to a growing body of research exploring how environmental factors — including air pollution and wildfire smoke — may influence fetal neurodevelopment, and as global temperatures rise, this study is the first to examine how temperature can impact that development.

Journal: Science of The Total Environment
Funder: Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Environmental Protection Agency

From polls to public policy: how artificial intelligence is distorting online research

IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Artificial intelligence is increasingly able to simulate human behavior and answer online surveys and political polls, putting the reliability of survey-based research at risk. Consequences can be serious for science and research, but also for policy and participation of people in democratic processes, as surveys are widely used in political polls. Three researchers working at the IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca and the University of Cambridge express their worry in a comment in Nature, and propose some possible countermeasures.

Journal: Nature

Climate policy must consider cross-border pollution “exchanges” to address inequality and achieve health benefits, research finds

Cardiff University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ambitious climate action to improve global air quality could save up to 1.32 million lives per year by 2040, according to a new study.

The research, led by Cardiff University, shows how developing countries rely heavily on international cooperation to see these benefits, because much of their pollution originates outside their borders.

The first-of-its-kind study analysed these cross-border pollution “exchanges” for nearly every country – 168 in total.

Journal: Nature Communications

Nurses can deliver hospital care just as well as doctors

Cochrane
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Nurses can safely deliver many services traditionally performed by doctors, with little to no difference in deaths, safety events, or how patients felt about their health, according to a new Cochrane review. In some cases, nurse-led care even outperformed doctor-led care.

Journal: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Bipartisan members of congress relaunch Congressional Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Caucus with event that brings together lawmakers, medical experts, and patient advocates to address critical gap in PAD management

Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
Business Announcement

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the leading nonprofit medical society representing invasive and interventional cardiology, is proud to participate in the relaunch of the Congressional Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Caucus, organized by the PAD Pulse Alliance and hosted by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL).

The bipartisan event brought together physicians, patient advocates, and lawmakers to discuss current research and data, treatment, and urgent policy solutions for PAD, a disease affecting over 10 million Americans. The event featured members of the PAD Alliance, a coalition of leading medical societies working to address PAD: the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), Outpatient Endovascular and Interventional Society (OEIS), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), and the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC).

Patient advocates, including former Harlem Globetrotter Larry “Shorty” Coleman, spoke about their personal experience navigating the life-altering disease.

Urgent need for school-housing partnerships to support students facing housing instability, according to new USC Rossier study

University of Southern California
Reports and Proceedings

USC Rossier research finds that students’ housing instability often goes unnoticed by schools until it disrupts learning, and argues for earlier, cross-sector school-housing partnerships and upstream housing policies to better support families before displacement harms student outcomes.

New research shows God-believing ‘nones’ align more closely with religious Americans

University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study, published in Sociology of Religion, Schwadel found that religious nones who believe in God are far more likely than other nones to have similar policy preferences to their religiously affiliated counterparts. Schwadel examined 16 measures ranging from attitudes on capital punishment to government spending and political intolerance. God-believing nones are more likely to support school prayer, the death penalty and making pornography illegal, while opposing abortion.

Journal: Sociology of Religion

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