UCLA in the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription. See more UCLA in the News.
Autism risk may be linked to lithium in water | HealthDay News
There’s no single known cause for autism, but researchers now point the finger at higher lithium levels in drinking water. Their new study found that pregnant women in Denmark whose household tap water had higher levels of lithium were more likely to have kids with autism, compared to pregnant women living in areas where tap water had lower levels of this element. (UCLA’s Dr. Beate Ritz was quoted. Also: The Hill, Medical Xpress and KTLA-TV.)
Amid school shootings, some ‘comforting’ data | CNN
(Commentary by UCLA’s Ron Avi Astor) I often ask my students if they think school violence has been increasing, decreasing or staying stable over the past two decades. Inevitably one or more students say something like: “Of course it’s gone up!” By show of hands, most students agree … There is a widespread belief that violence in schools is on the rise. The reality, however, is that research shows that almost all forms of school violence have been steadily and dramatically dropping for more than two decades.
Preparing for the melt of California’s snowpack | Los Angeles Times
“All of that water is going to have to come downhill sooner rather than later,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. Incoming warmer weather is “good news for a lot of folks who need it, but it does mean that the ‘big melt’ is on the way.”
Federal investigations of Trump | MSNBC
“The only thing worse than not indicting a president” who broke the law, said Jonathan Zasloff, a law professor at UCLA, “is indicting a president and him being acquitted.” A not-guilty verdict for Trump would not only empower the former president but would, in effect, validate his behavior.
Hollywood diversity: ‘Turning Red’ topped streaming | NBC News
Pixar film “Turning Red” was the top streamed movie in both white and minority households last year, according to a new report on the state of diversity in Hollywood. The animated movie, which struck a chord for its exploration of teen girlhood, Asian identity and fraught mother-daughter relationships, beat out other streaming hits like “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and “The Gray Man,” according to an analysis by the University of California, Los Angeles.
Schools that help teens recover from addiction | NPR
In 2022, nearly a third of 12th graders and 1 in 5 10th graders reported using an illicit drug in the previous year … Those numbers have steadily decreased over the past 25 years. However, data from UCLA shows overdose deaths among teens doubled in the first year of the pandemic, mainly attributed to the increased prevalence of fentanyl-laced drugs.
What does California’s rain mean for wildfires? | Fast Company
It’s difficult to make generalizations for such a large, diverse state, says Jon Keeley, a wildfire research scientist at the Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center and an ecology professor at UCLA. But typically, a wet winter means fires are less likely in forests. “One of the big limitations to fire is the condition of the fuels, and the more rain you have and the longer it goes into the spring, the more moisture is retained by the woody vegetation, and the less likely it is to burn,” he says.
Labor strikes are rising, and winning pay hikes | Christian Science Monitor
“It’s not just a cost-of-living crisis; it’s a crisis of living,” says Toby Higbie, professor of history and labor studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s linked to economics, but it’s a feeling of existential crisis … We no longer have that rosy view of America that [President Ronald] Reagan bequeathed on us.”
The need for culturally competent doctors | Forbes
Currently, there is data to suggest that there is room for improvement as a 2021 UCLA study found that Black physicians make up only 5.4% of the American healthcare workforce, an increase of only 4 percentage points in the last 120 years.
The abilities of origami-inspired robots | Scienmag
Now, a multidisciplinary team led by researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering has created a new fabrication technique for fully foldable robots that can perform a variety of complex tasks without relying on semiconductors … “This work leads to a new class of origami robots with expanded capabilities and levels of autonomy while maintaining the favorable attributes associated with origami folding-based fabrication,” said study lead author Wenzhong Yan, a UCLA mechanical engineering doctoral student. (UCLA’s Ankur Mehta was also quoted.)
Americans delay colorectal cancer screenings | The Healthy
The average age when adults in the US are getting their first screen for colorectal cancers, according to data from AMSURG? Fifty-eight. The average age [they] should be getting their first screen for colorectal cancers, according to the American Cancer Society? Forty-five. That 13-year gap could be the difference between life and death, says Folasade May, MD … a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and a member of Fight Colorectal Cancer’s Medical Advisory Board.
