UCLA In the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription to view. See more UCLA In the News.
Ghost DNA hints at Africa’s missing ancient humans | New York Times
Arun Durvasula and Sriram Sankararaman, two geneticists at the University of California, Los Angeles, described this so-called ghost archaic population in the journal Science Advances. Their discovery may shed light on human genetic diversity in Africa, which has been hard to chart until now because the fossil record is sparse. (Also: USA Today, NPR, Independent [UK], New Scientist)
Growing bricks and more ways to shrink concrete’s carbon footprint | Wall Street Journal
Gaurav Sant, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, recently founded a company, CO2 Concrete LLC, that takes carbon dioxide emissions directly from factories, including plants that produce cement, and injects it into a proprietary mix of calcium hydroxide, minerals and water. A key advantage, says Mr. Sant, is that it doesn’t need to extract pure CO2 from the emissions — a costly process — before blending it. One limitation: Because it is a complicated process, it is used only to produce concrete components that are then transported to a building site, unlike using standard concrete that is blended and poured on-site.
Why two-thirds of California students didn’t meet science standards | Los Angeles Times
“I think these test results should be taken with a grain of salt,” said Bill Sandoval, a UCLA education professor who studies how children learn science and observed teachers who used the “healing a wound” approach to teaching students about cells. Instead of “summative” assessments like this, Sandoval said, it would be more productive to give students assessments throughout the school year that are more closely aligned to what they are learning in each classroom, and enable teachers to figure out what students need. “It’s not that clear” what these test results say about how to improve or what to improve on, Sandoval said.
New plant-based cancer drug shows treatment potential in Phase 1 trial | Fox Business
There may be hope for an effective plant-based treatment for various head and neck cancers, according to a new study conducted by researchers at UCLA…. Instead of relying on more aggressive treatment methods such as radiation, chemotherapy and surgery – which are used on advanced cases – researchers have conducted a phase I clinical trial that is meant to be a less invasive method for treating oral and throat cancers.
Newsom wants more dyslexia screenings, services for California students | EdSource
At UCLA, the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners and Social Justice will study the links between literacy and equity among children who have access to tutoring and those who don’t.
Shingles vaccine bonus: Reduces risk of stroke? | HealthDay
“This is a win-win for vaccination,” said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-University of California, Los Angeles Cardiomyopathy Center. “Less shingles, less stroke,” said Fonarow, who was not involved in the study.
Looking for an inclusive study body? These colleges are among the most diverse | USA Today
University of California-Los Angeles, better known as UCLA, is one of three colleges among the 25 most diverse in which Asian students comprise the largest racial or ethnic group of the American undergraduate population, at 31.6% of students. White students account for just over 30% of the population who are not nonresident foreigners, and Hispanic students make up 25%.
How to write a top-notch paper | Nature
Pamela Yeh, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, shares some personal pet peeves when she reads a paper: “I can’t stand those papers that have really long sentences with a ton of commas and a lot of jargon. I don’t think the writer is thinking about the reader,” she says.
This is one of the most odious achievements of Trump’s presidency | Washington Post Opinion
(Commentary written by UCLA’s Harry Litman) Resignation is the strongest possible protest that prosecutors can employ, within professional bounds, against improper conduct by their leadership. The president’s tweet and the department’s reduction of Stone’s sentencing were utterly rank and improper. The action runs counter not only to standard practice but also to the standard that the Justice Department is supposed to embody: the administration of justice without fear or favor.
Indianapolis mulls options for buying BlueIndy electric charging stations | Indianapolis Star
J.R. DeShazo, director of the Luskin Center of Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles, said BlueIndy’s demise still creates a potential opportunity for Indianapolis. “Even if the car-share isn’t successful,” he said, “they’ve created a network of charging stations which can be repurposed to support other charging needs the community might have.”
Strong winds flip trucks like toys, blow down trees in Southern California | Los Angeles Times
From a wildfire risk perspective, the “worst possible sequence would be continued dry February followed by brief burst of wet conditions in spring,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, wrote on Twitter. The reason, he says, is that late rains allow seasonal grasses and brush to grow rapidly, but an accumulated precipitation deficit would prime older vegetation to burn. (Swain is also quoted in Fresno Bee.)
This is what happens when you sit too much | Well + Good Column
Researchers at UCLA are taking a stand (get it?), and taking a deeper look into why we sit for so long, the impact it has, and how to get us moving again. What happens to your body when you sit all day? “As we’ve evolved as a society with all these advancements, we really engineered the need to move out of our daily lives,” says Burt Cowgill, PhD, an adjunct assistant public health professor at UCLA. “It’s ironic now that we find ourselves actively trying to reengineer movement back into sort of our lives.”
UCLA receives Stradivarius, Seraphin violins from Twiford Foundation | MyNewsLA
A family foundation donated a 12-piece collection of rare bows and violins for use by students at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the university announced Tuesday. The violins include 1700s masterpieces made by Antonio Stradivarius and Sanctus Seraphin, and bows made by Nikolai Kittel and Francois Tourte, according to UCLA. The Phoenix-based Twiford Foundation also established a fund for the maintenance and repair of the instruments, which are collectively valued at nearly $3.5 million.
Santa Ana police officer donating kidney to former police partner | KABC-TV
After a series of tests at UCLA Medical Center, doctors found Patrick to be a very close match to Jorge.
Stuck inside California’s housing crisis | KPCC-FM
“There’s so much attention on getting people into any kind of housing that nobody’s paying much attention to what kind of housing they’re going to be able to get into,” said UCLA’s Gary Blasi. (Approx. 3:05 mark)
