Ethics News

April 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Apr. 7, 2025 — As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly integrates into health care, a new study reveals that all generative AI models may recommend different treatments for the same medical condition based solely on a patient's socioeconomic and demographic ...

My Robot Therapist: The Ethics of AI Mental Health Chatbots for Kids

Mar. 31, 2025 — AI mental health apps may offer a cheap and accessible way to fill the gaps in the overstretched U.S. mental health care system, but ethics experts warn that we need to be thoughtful about how we use them, especially with ...

Avoidable Deaths Are on the Rise in the United States, Yet Falling in Many Peer Nations

Mar. 24, 2025 — In most high-income countries around the world, the number of avoidable mortalities is going down. But in the United States, avoidable deaths have been on the rise for more than a decade, according ...

Whose Air Quality Are We Monitoring?

Mar. 18, 2025 — The EPA's network consistently failed to capture air quality in communities of color across six major pollutants. The monitors are the key data source driving decisions about pollution reduction, urban planning and public health initiatives. The ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:53pm EDT

Want to Preserve Biodiversity? Go Big

Mar. 12, 2025 — Large, undisturbed forests are better for harboring biodiversity than fragmented landscapes, according to recent research. Ecologists agree that habitat loss and the fragmentation of forests reduces ...

How 'Self-Silencing' Your Opinion May Change Behavior

Mar. 5, 2025 — People who have a minority viewpoint on a controversial topic are more likely to 'self-silence' themselves in conversation -- and that may lead them to behave against their own beliefs, a new study ...

Misplaced Neurons Disrupt Wiring of the Brain

Feb. 25, 2025 — Research reveals why misplaced neurons in the brain are overactive and lead to developmental ...

Siamese Fighting Fish Need More Space in Pet Shops, Study Shows

Feb. 25, 2025 — Scientists have found Siamese fighting fish are typically kept in containers just one-quarter the size they need to thrive, challenging decades of retail practice in the ornamental fish industry ...

Impacts of Workplace Bullying on Sleep Can Be 'Contagious' Between Partners

Feb. 21, 2025 — Workplace bullying affects not only the employee's sleep but their partner's too, according to new research published ...

Narcissists More Likely to Feel Ostracized

Feb. 20, 2025 — Narcissists feel ostracized more frequently than their less self-absorbed peers, according to researchers. This may stem not only from being shunned due to their personalities but from a tendency to ...

Are We Trusting AI Too Much? New Study Demands Accountability in Artificial Intelligence

Feb. 18, 2025 — Are we putting our faith in technology that we don't fully understand? A new study comes at a time when AI systems are making decisions impacting our ...

Tigers in the Neighborhood: How India Makes Room for Both Tigers and People

Jan. 31, 2025 — In India, tigers haven't just survived they're making a comeback. Despite a growing population and increasing pressure on their habitats, the number of wild tigers is rising. The reason? According to ...

Botanic Gardens Must Team Up to Save Wild Plants from Extinction

Jan. 27, 2025 — The world's botanic gardens must pull together to protect global plant biodiversity in the face of the extinction crisis, amid restrictions on wild-collecting, say ...

Progress and Challenges in Brain Implants

Jan. 24, 2025 — A scientific team looks at the progress and challenges in the research and development of brain implants. New achievements in the field of this technology are seen as a source of hope for many ...

Stroke Deaths and Their Racial Disparities Increased Over Last 20 Years

Apr. 9, 2025 — Over the last two decades, ischemic stroke mortality rates in the U.S. have grown, with almost 3 in 10 deaths occurring at home, and increases particularly among racial minorities and rural ...

Conservation Efforts Analysis Reveals Which Actions Are Most Helpful for Endangered Species Status

Mar. 18, 2025 — Targeted conservation actions are essential to prevent wildlife extinctions, but more efforts are needed to fully recover biodiversity, according to a new ...

Study Quantifies Loss of Disability-Free Years of Life from COVID-19 Pandemic

Mar. 11, 2025 — Among 289 million adults in 18 European countries, more than 16 million years of life were lost from 2020 through 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new ...

While Most Americans Use a Device to Monitor Their Heart, Few Share That Data With Their Doctor

Jan. 22, 2025 — A new national survey found that while many Americans use a device to monitor their heart, few share that data with their ...

Ecologists Uncover Significant Ecological Impact of Hybrid Grouper Release Through Religious Practices

Jan. 19, 2025 — Ecologists have identified significant ecological risks associated with the release of hybrid groupers into Hong Kong's coastal waters, a practice often linked to religious 'mercy ...

A New Research Program Is Indigenizing Artificial Intelligence

Jan. 15, 2025 — A new initiative is challenging the conversation around the direction of artificial intelligence (AI). It charges that the current trajectory is inherently biased against non-Western modes of ...

How Households Can Cut Energy Costs

Jan. 13, 2025 — Giving people better data about their energy use, plus some coaching, can help them substantially reduce their consumption and costs, according to a new ...

Realistic Emission Tests for Motorbikes, Mopeds and Quads

Jan. 9, 2025 — Researchers have developed new measurement techniques and methods to measure emissions from category-L vehicles in realistic operation and to determine corresponding limit ...

States Struggle to Curb Food Waste Despite Policies

Jan. 9, 2025 — Current state policies aren't enough to curb food waste. Study shows states are falling short of the reduction goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection ...

Rethinking Population Management in Zoos

Jan. 8, 2025 — Until now, contraception has been the method of choice for zoos to avoid surplus animals. Researchers are now calling for a paradigm shift: zoos could preserve their breeding populations, raise ...

Study Reveals Rising Interest in Permanent Contraception After Roe V. Wade Was Overturned

Jan. 7, 2025 — A new study has found a significant increase in the number of U.S. young adults seeking permanent contraception, specifically tubal sterilization and vasectomy, following the Supreme Court's ...

'Heartbreaking' Impact of COVID on Treatment of Children With Brain Tumors

Jan. 7, 2025 — Research into the impact of the COVID pandemic on children and young people with brain tumors has revealed how investigations or treatments were frequently postponed as key people or resources were ...

One of the World's Largest Social Programs Greatly Reduced Tuberculosis Among the Most Vulnerable

Jan. 3, 2025 — Brazil's Bolsa Fam lia Program, one of the world's largest conditional cash transfer programs, was responsible for the reduction of more than half the number of tuberculosis cases and ...

Expanding the Agenda for More Just Genomics

Jan. 2, 2025 — A special report outlines opportunities to enhance justice in genomics, toward a world in which genomic medicine promotes health equity, protects privacy, and respects the rights and values of ...

Human-Like Artificial Intelligence May Face Greater Blame for Moral Violations

Dec. 18, 2024 — In a new study, participants tended to assign greater blame to artificial intelligences (AIs) involved in real-world moral transgressions when they perceived the AIs as having more human-like ...

Diversity and Inclusion Accelerate the Pace of Innovation in Robotics

Dec. 12, 2024 — Diverse and inclusive teams are not merely a moral imperative but also a catalyst for scientific excellence in robotics, scientists point out in a study. The team has outlined how a scientific ...

Adoption of AI Calls for New Kind of Communication Competence from Sales Managers

Dec. 11, 2024 — Artificial intelligence, AI, is rapidly transforming work also in the financial sector. A recent study explored how integrating AI into the work of sales teams affects the interpersonal communication ...

What Is a Unit of Nature? New Framework Shows the Challenges Involved With Establishing a Biodiversity Credit Market

Dec. 11, 2024 — Leading ecologists have devised a new framework to classify how biodiversity credit operators define what a unit of nature is. The new analysis demonstrates the challenges involved with devising a ...

Better Environmental Performance Boosts Profits and Cuts Costs

Dec. 10, 2024 — Using a new calculation method, researchers found in an international comparative study that investors value corporate environmental performance more than mere information disclosure. In some ...

Young Children Less Likely Than Adults to See Discrimination as Harmful, Researchers Find

Dec. 10, 2024 — A study by a team of psychology researchers shows that young children in the United States are less likely than adults to see discrimination as harmful, indicating these beliefs begin at an early ...