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.
America’s skies have gotten clearer, but millions still breathe unhealthy air | New York Times
“There are still health effects at the lower levels of pollution,” said Beate Ritz, a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies the public health impacts of air pollution. “It’s the difference between having very acute, very bad effects where you might be hospitalized versus potentially having a lower IQ in your child,” she said. Scientists are only beginning to understand the broad health impacts of breathing polluted air, she added.
Sea otters have low genetic diversity like other threatened species, biologists report | Phys.org
Sea otters have low genetic diversity, which could endanger their health as a species, a UCLA-led team of life scientists has discovered. The findings have implications for the conservation of rare and endangered species, in which low genetic diversity could increase the odds of extinction.… The sea otter’s low level of genetic diversity is similar to endangered species, such as the cheetah and Tasmanian devil, said lead author Annabel Beichman, a UCLA graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology. She and her colleagues reconstructed the otter’s evolutionary history and assessed its level of genetic diversity, history of changes in its population size, and levels of potentially harmful genetic variation. (Also: Science Daily, Earth.com)
How an app a day helps millennials save | Forbes
Recent research from UCLA Anderson’s Hal Hershfield and Shlomo Benartzi, and Steven Shu of City University of London and Digitai, suggests that an effective way to help gig workers save for retirement may be to think small. They argue: “People often have difficulty saving money and marketers face problems convincing them to do so, a challenge that exists regardless of whether goals and time horizons are short- or long-term.”
Long work hours tied to higher odds for stroke | HealthDay
Dr. Gregg Fonarow is director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and co-director of the UCLA’s preventative cardiology program. He noted that “a variety of potential mechanisms have been considered as helping to explain this excess risk. These include long hours spent working leading to less daily physical activity, prolonged sitting, greater exposure to stress, and disruptions in sleep,” Fonarow said. “It has also been suggested that those with long work hours may pay less attention to their cardiovascular health or seek attention for concerning symptoms.”
California’s story was written with Native American blood. Let’s finally admit it | Los Angeles Times Editorial
California’s first governor, Peter Burnett, declared in 1851 that “a war of extermination will continue to be waged ... until the Indian race becomes extinct.” Ben Madley, a scholar of Native American history at UCLA, calls it “genocide” and estimates that between 1846 and 1873, about 80% of the state’s Native Americans died from disease, starvation and murder.
These 16 everyday things pose huge health risks | Reader’s Digest
“When people come to the ER with a rapid heartbeat, tremors, or the jitters — especially if they’re young adults — we generally ask if they were drinking energy drinks before symptoms appeared,” says Dr. Wally Ghurabi, medical director, Nethercutt Emergency Center, UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica. “Energy drinks with caffeine can be extremely dangerous – and even cause death,” warns Dr. Ghurabi. A combination of sugar and multiple sources of caffeine should be avoided.
How to stay hydrated | Consumer Reports
Know that other beverages and foods count, too. In fact, all beverages (other than alcoholic drinks) will hydrate you. That includes caffeinated drinks, even though coffee and tea are mild diuretics and can cause you to urinate more often. But these drinks will add more to your liquid stores than you’ll lose from extra urination, says Janet Mentes, Ph.D., a professor at the UCLA School of Nursing.
Thousands of teens spared conversion therapy due to state bans, report finds | NBC News
An estimated 10,000 LGBTQ youth, ages 13 to 17, have been protected from conversion therapy by living in states that have banned the contentious practice on minors, according to an updated report from UCLA’s Williams Institute. (Also: Bustle)
Random searches of students ending at LAUSD campuses | Spectrum News
Analysis by the University of California Los Angeles Civil Rights Project on a quarter of LAUSD middle and high schools found that from 2013 to 2015, 34,000 students were searched. According to the report, in that time, 37 knives, 18 pepper sprays, and one bb gun were confiscated.
Joy Harjo becomes the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate | NPR
Harjo, 68, will represent both her Indigenous culture and those of the United States of America when she succeeds Tracy K. Smith as the country’s 23rd poet laureate consultant in poetry (that’s the official title) this fall. Her term, announced Wednesday by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, will make her the first Native American poet to serve in the position…. She has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Tennessee.