The Los Angeles Times examined the growing threat of coastal flooding in California as rising sea levels and powerful ocean conditions put beaches, homes and infrastructure at risk. Timu Gallien of UCLA’s Coastal Flood Lab warned that upcoming conditions could break water-level records and potentially damage piers, breakwaters and jetties, while noting that many communities remain focused on temporary fixes rather than long-term solutions. Read more about UCLA in today’s Business Insider, Associated Press and other outlets.
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More highlights from UCLA in the News: October 19, 2026
Math’s ‘romantic era’ is over, UCLA prodigy says | Business Insider
Terence Tao, a renowned professor at UCLA, said in a recent podcast appearance that the “romantic era” of math is over, thanks to AI tools capable of solving hundreds of problems with some simple prompting. Now, he said, even leading scholars like him are reduced to sorting through reams of AI-generated proofs, instead of doing the “heroic” solving themselves.
Wildfire exposure takes a growing toll on Californians’ mental health | KNX-AM
“Based on our study, we estimate that 1.4 million adults reported that their mental health was harmed due to experiencing wildfires, which is almost triple the number from the year before,” said Todd Hughes, director of the California Health Interview Survery. “Based on mental health symptoms experienced in the past year, we can determine whether someone meets our criteria for what's known as serious psychological distress.” (Hughes was interviewed)
How to talk to children about school shootings | “Good Morning America”
Melissa Brymer, director of terrorism and disaster programs at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, said parents and caregivers should be truthful with kids in an age-appropriate way.
New threat to California election officials | Associated Press
Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor, said the letter “ups the ante by threatening election officials with potential criminal prosecution.” “It is deplorable that rather than work cooperatively and assist states in their election administration responsibilities, the federal government is making escalating threats and unreasonable demands beyond its power in the middle of an ongoing election,” he said. (Hasen was also featured by CNN.)
Are courts, police ready to combat AI images? | Southern California News Group
“Now we have to contend with people potentially submitting AI-generated images as valid evidence,” said Melodi Dinçer, director of the Digital Likeness Initiative at UCLA’s Institute for Tech Law and Policy. ”So law enforcement agencies are going to have to deal with this. The judiciary is trying to deal with this and get ahead of this issue. This is going to affect the legal process in many different areas.”
Can Mary Peltola escape the Democratic brand in Trump country? | Newsweek
“Mary Peltola has one of the most conservative voting records among House Democrats, and among Senate Republicans Dan Sullivan is just left of center,” Chris Tausanovitch, a political-science professor at UCLA, told Newsweek on Thursday. “Both of them are trying their best to distinguish themselves from unpopular national party brands, but that’s an uphill climb because voters are rarely able to distinguish their representative from their representative’s party.”
How Israeli firm’s ‘zero-click’ malware attack poses global security risk | Al Jazeera
Analysts say the findings are “incredibly concerning”, as they confirm the existence of a new global security threat. “We knew we were headed in this direction and now it is out in the public,” Ramesh Srinivasan, professor of information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, U.S., told Al Jazeera.
Sky-high LADWP bills light up social media | Los Angeles Times
Denise Grab, clean-energy project director at UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said that over the past three years, Southern California Edison’s rate for the typical household using 500 kWh per month has risen about 4% while DWP’s has gone up 45%. But Edison still charges about 20% more than DWP.
Forest fires significantly worsening across Africa’s tropical nations | The Independent
“The immediate threat to human life is likely to be highly localized, but smoke exposure, damage to crops and livelihoods, and longer-term climate impacts could affect many more people,” says Elsa Ordway, co-director of the Congo Basin Institute at UCLA. “Crucially, current satellite systems probably miss many small and understory fires, so the visible problem may understate the real one.”
Senegal-sized Antarctic glacier melting faster than thought: Why it matters | Al Jazeera
Where other ice sheet models conclude a grounding line is fixed, the scientists said they developed the concept of a broader “grounding zone” instead. In this scenario, seawater lifts and lowers the ice in a “tidal pumping” process that allows warm water to reach “deep underneath the ice sheets and causing vigorous melting,” lead author Mattia Poinelli, a project scientist at UCLA, told media.
Creatine isn’t just for athletes. Here’s who should be taking it | Los Angeles Times
Creatine is not only helpful for gym activity, but also for enhancing recovery from exercise, says Yasi Ansari, a UCLA Health dietitian who works with athletes. And it helps with “adaptations in training.” But creatine is not just for athletes, Ansari says. “Vegetarians can benefit from creatine supplementation because they’re not consuming the foods that have higher amounts of creatine, like red meat and salmon, which have 1-2 grams per pound.”
New round of ‘No Kings’ rallies focuses on getting out the vote | New York Times
“I teach medieval history so I know what a society looks like when rights are abrogated and we have a king,” said Christine Chism, 63, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
