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.
Diversity, representation on streaming series in decline | Los Angeles Times
Popular dramas and comedies on streaming services showed a sharp decline in cultural diversity from last year, signaling a troubling trend in the TV industry in terms of inclusion, a new UCLA study concluded. The latest edition of the Hollywood Diversity Report released Tuesday, which examined the diversity of performers, creators and viewers in the top 250 series on streaming platforms, determined that the top shows in 2024 were less culturally diverse than the previous year and that people of color and women are facing more limited opportunities behind the camera. (UCLA’s Darnell Hunt was quoted. Also: Variety.)
How the pandemic lockdowns changed a songbird’s beak | New York Times
But when UCLA’s campus shut down during the pandemic, something remarkable happened: The beaks of juncos born on campus reverted to their wildland shape. Several years later, after the pandemic-related restrictions had been lifted, the distinctive urban beak shape returned, researchers reported in a new study on Monday. (UCLA’s Pamela Yeh was quoted.)
Planet protector | Science
That mission, the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, was conceived in the early 2000s and finally got the green light in 2022. Its components are now being built, tested and assembled in clean rooms across the United States ahead of its planned launch in September 2027. “We’re in the thick of building everything,” says [Amy] Mainzer, NEO Surveyor’s principal investigator and now an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles
Trump’s L.A. fire claims missed the mark, study shows | CalMatters
A team of researchers, led by Gregory Pierce, director of the UCLA Water Resources Group, set out to uncover whether the intense focus on water supply meant that dry hydrants had uniquely hampered the Palisades firefight, or whether this was a common occurrence. In a policy brief published Monday, the researchers used media reports to confirm that when fires burn urban areas, hydrant flows often sputter out — the result of lost pressure as burnt homes hemorrhage water and too many hoses simultaneously draw on a limited supply.
Only L.A. could spend $1.5 billion to make traffic worse | Los Angeles Times
(Commentary by UCLA’s Jacob Wasserman) When millions of people come to Los Angeles for the World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics, their first taste of the city will probably be the infuriating congestion of LAX. Now, do we want to treat our guests — and ultimately ourselves — to an even worse welcome: a half-finished, $1.5-billion roadway project at LAX that will only end up making traffic more gridlocked?
The science behind why you can’t get a song out of your head | HuffPost
“Your auditory cortex lights up as if you were hearing the song for real, in real time, out loud,” explained Jenna Marcovitz, the director of music therapy in the department of integrative medicine at UCLA Health.
