The Los Angeles Times explored how shrinking attention spans and digital habits may be reshaping contemporary fiction, citing insights from UCLA English professor Mitchum Huehls. Huehls said today’s acclaimed novels are often shorter than the sweeping 500- to 600-page books that once dominated literary culture, with more emphasis on plot and character than lengthy scene-setting. He also noted that some writers are creatively embracing fragmented forms that reflect the pace and structure of modern life. Read more about UCLA in today’s CBS News, New York Times and others.

More highlights from UCLA in the News: April 28, 2026

Better weather, climate models could come from new desert-dust research | LAist

Desert dust in the air may be playing a bigger role in the climate than we’ve previously understood. New UCLA research says airborne dust acts like an insulating blanket and traps about twice as much heat as earlier estimates had suggested. Scientists had thought it was responsible for 5% of warming caused by carbon dioxide. Now they say it’s closer to 10%. Authors say the new findings could lead to more accurate forecasts and climate models.  

Your doctor is using AI to take notes. What could go wrong?

But what do AI scribes mean for patients? The hope is that they will help doctors pay better attention during visits; shorten waits for appointments; and produce more thorough notes, said Dr. Paul Lukac, chief AI officer at UCLA Health. But there has been little research on how AI scribes are affecting patient care.

Misery and malaise cloud LA. Why it feels so hopeless this time | Los Angeles Times

Survey after survey underscore the bleakness. UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs was the latest, with its annual Quality of Life in Los Angeles County index dropping to the lowest level ever recorded. But one thing makes 2026 different from the early 1990s: affordability. The UCLA report found sky-high housing costs and the general state of prices at the top of the grievance list.  

The legal showdown between Elon Musk and Sam Altman begins | CBS News

Julia Powles, a technology law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CBS News on Friday that the dispute centers on who will control the transformative technology and profit from it. “Both are arguing in this case that they have the public good at heart, that’s essentially the core dispute,” she said. “But what I think the evidentiary record shows is that both like to tell you what you want to hear.”  

Supreme Court to hear Trump bid affecting 1.3 million immigrants | Los Angeles Times

Ahilan Arulanantham, who is arguing for the Syria case on Wednesday, added that if the government wins, “it also means they could probably grant TPS to countries that don’t deserve it.” Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA, has represented the National TPS Alliance in separate litigation during this administration and Trump’s first. (Also: UCLA’s Cecilia Menjívar was quoted by the New York Times.)  

A new poll shows how Californians feel about the voting measure | Sacramento Bee

[Matt] Barreto, who is the Faculty Director for the UCLA Voting Rights Project, said his team estimates there are at least a million current registered voters in California that do not have the proper credentials to vote if the measure is approved.

Ohio counties face unusual federal demands for voter records | Reuters

But attempts at tampering cannot be ruled out. “If the election turns on a few jurisdictions, states or counties where there are disputed races, then we’d be more likely to see attempts at subversion,” said Richard Hasen, an election‑law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.  

Why we crave ‘comfort food’ | Knowable Magazine

Thanks to the modern world’s need for convenience, odds are high that at least one of your comfort foods is ultraprocessed. In a not-yet-published study, A. Janet Tomiyama, a psychological scientist at UCLA, examined data from the UCLA Eating in America Study, in which 1,760 respondents who self-identified as “comfort eaters” listed their top three choices. Of the 300 comfort foods listed by participants, 42.7 percent were ultraprocessed, Tomiyama’s team found.