The New York Times profiled UCLA mathematician and Fields Medal recipient Terence Tao, who has emerged as a leading voice in the debate over AI’s rapidly growing role in mathematical research and its impact on younger scholars. The article also featured UCLA professors Andrea Bertozzi and Dimitri Shlyakhtenko, as well as Tao’s graduate students Ben Goldman, Siddharth Mulherkar and Arian Nadjimzadah. Read more about UCLA in today’s Washington Post, CNN and other outlets.

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More highlights from UCLA in the News: October 16, 2026

Here is what’s currently affecting Californians’ health | City News Service

Californians are facing health challenges ranging from wildfires and extreme heat to food insecurity and limited access to medical care, according to a UCLA survey released Thursday. The 2025 California Health Interview Survey, conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, found that nearly 30% of Los Angeles County adults, an estimated 2.3 million people, said they or members of their households personally experienced wildfires during the previous two years. (UCLA’s Ninez Ponce and Todd Hughes were quoted.)

New research about the dangers of smoke from urban firestorms | Washington Post

Another recent study from scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that lead concentrations in the smoke plume from the 2025 Eaton Fire were up to 250 times higher than normal. Other dangerous substances, including arsenic, copper and bromine, could also be detected in the air more than 15 miles from blaze. (UCLA’s Suzanne Paulson was quoted.)

Lawsuit filed after California wouldn’t open a thumb drive of alleged non-citizens | CNN

“The federal complaint filed today is full of language about the supremacy clause and federal ‘preemption,’” University of California, Los Angeles, law professor Rick Hasen, wrote on his Election Law Blog about DOJ’s new case. “But federal law does not preempt the state’s right to run its election and judge the qualifications of its voters.

California puts first U.S. billionaire tax to the vote | Agence France-Presse

“No” campaign commercials, which play wall-to-wall across TV stations in California’s expensive media market, offer doom-laden predictions that Prop. 40 is the thin end of the wedge. “The concern is that individuals, business owners and such will anticipate that it likely will be repeated,” said Kirk Stark, a tax law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

LAPD chief becomes polarizing figure in mayoral race | Los Angeles Times

UCLA professor David Turner said despite his wariness of Bass’ centrist drift, he and other progressives are equally skeptical of Raman, who, has repeatedly voted to increase the LAPD budget without any meaningful efforts to rein in police misconduct.

Baby brain is real, and scientists may have finally figured out why | Parents

“Common examples my patients report are misplacing keys, losing trains of thought, or struggling to remember appointments,” says Dr. Aparna Sridhar, a UCLA clinical professor. “More often than not, this is brought up in a funny way, but very rarely I have seen some serious forms of this.”