The New York Times’ wellness newsletter explored why friendships are so important and how to sustain them as busy adults. Jaimie Arona Krems, director of the UCLA Center for Friendship Research, said the concept of tracking friendships — as one does on a fitness app — isn’t too far off the mark. While the standard health advice is to “eat your veggies, drink your water and get your sleep,” she said, “I’m shocked that friends aren’t on there, too.” Krems and others suggest planning ahead to connect with friends in odd pockets of time and by using different technology platforms that work for them. Read more about UCLA in today’s Politico, Spectrum News 1 and others.

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

Nearly 300K California students are homeless | KTLA-TV

Researchers found that the number of students experiencing homelessness reached a record 298,254 during the 2024-25 school year, a 10% increase from the previous peak in 2018-19. (Also: KABC-TV – UCLA’s Joseph Bishop was featured.)

Project turns to OnlyFans to generate funding for marmot research | Spectrum News 1

In the last several years, the Trump administration has frozen or cut approximately $3 billion in science-based research grants, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. As a result, researchers at UCLA have turned to OnlyFans to fund their long-term marmot research project — and they call it “OnlyMarms.” Subscription to the page is free, and the marmots are entirely G-rated and safe for work.

Newsom’s big housing claim is built on bad data | Politico

The flawed methodology led the governor to significantly inflate the rate of construction — by more than three times, according to one established benchmark, Politico determined. “It’s a pretty basic error,” said Michael Lens, an urban planning professor at UCLA and director of the school’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, who reviewed Politico’s findings.

Struggle continues for Latino businesses amid immigration arrests | Oregon Live

Research by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute published in July found immigration arrests from last year had an “immediate economic shock” among Latino businesses in Los Angeles County and that businesses continue to struggle this year.

The new space race has an environmental problem | Grist

Magali Delmas, a professor of management at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, thinks of the “new frontier” of space as something akin to the Gold Rush. “They were only seeing the positive — they were not seeing the negative impact on the environment of mining,” she said. “This optimism [about space] is really downplaying some of the challenges.”

Study of brain proteins spurs optimism for autism treatments | New York Times

“This is making maps of unknown territories that’s really necessary to move the biology forward,” said Dr. Dan Geschwind, a neurogeneticist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study.

Lindsay Clacy’s trial puts spotlight on postpartum psychosis | Agence France-Presse

Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the trial and debate around it shows “how profoundly invested Americans and the world remain in the figure of the mother.” She said the case has become an opportunity “for people not just to condemn a tragedy” but also show how “this figure of the good mother and then of course the bad mother becomes a dividing ground in our society.”