The Los Angeles Times reported on “Small Lots, Big Impacts,” an initiative spearheaded by UCLA’s cityLAB that is focused on transforming small, vacant, privately owned parcels of land in Los Angeles into thoughtfully designed “gentle density” housing — such as duplexes, fourplexes and townhome communities — to be sold at more reasonable prices than LA’s long-venerated single-family homes. UCLA’s Dana Cuff, director of cityLAB, and Emmanuel Proussaloglou were quoted. Read more about UCLA in the New York Times, Washington Post and BBC.

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More highlights from UCLA in the News: August 7, 2026

Thomas Hines put LA architecture on the map | New York Times

Thomas S. Hines, an architectural historian whose thorough research, crystalline writing and unending passion for the urban landscape of Los Angeles did much to cement the region’s reputation as a global center for modernist design in the 20th century, died on July 26 in Santa Monica, Calif.

Medicaid cuts stand to hit everyone. Here’s why | CalMatters

 “If you don’t have as many (paying) patients, your income as an organization goes down,” said Nadereh Pourat, associate director at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. “These are nonprofit institutions, so all of that income goes toward delivery of care.”

Who will get the $100 billion in tariff refunds? | Washington Post

Kimberly Clausing, a UCLA professor who served as a tax policy official under the Biden administration, said some companies don’t feel confident enough to change their prices based on the revoked tariffs, since President Donald Trump has replaced those levies with others that are also likely to be partially or completely thrown out by courts.

Contamination claims grow at ICE facility | Southern California News Group

For Greg Pierce, the director of UCLA’s Water Resources Group and director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, the video and reporting of the larvae suggest, “an acute and gross violation of basic drinking water quality standards, which poses an immediate health risk.” He studies policy and planning related to water quality.

Chemical smell from wildfire smoke | The Canadian Press

The chemical smell of wildfire is the result of complex chemical reactions in the atmosphere, said Michael Jerrett, a professor in the department of environmental health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. As smoke travels and ages, its chemical makeup changes. The smoke can produce enhanced levels of the volatile organic compounds benzene and formaldehyde, which can result in a plastic or rubber-like smell, he said in an interview Wednesday.

UCLA scientists guide heat like light at room temperature | Scienmag

Researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have now shown that phonons, the atomic vibrations that carry heat and display quantum behavior, can move through a material in concentrated, ray-shaped paths at room temperature. Rather than dispersing evenly in every direction, heat can follow routes determined by the structure of a crystal. The finding could lead to new ways of controlling heat in advanced electronics and quantum technologies. (UCLA’s Yongjie Hu was quoted.)

8 wellness podcasts to add to your queue | New York Times

Dr. Eve Glazier, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a skilled host adept at breaking down complicated health topics. She leads lively, candid discussions with experts on a wide range of issues that affect patients, such as what to know about anesthesia and how to deal with chronic pain.

Marmots facing money troubles turn to OnlyFans | BBC

Marmots - chubby, ground-dwelling squirrels - are the latest stars on the adult platform OnlyFans. That's thanks to the efforts of Colorado-based biologist Dr Daniel Blumstein [of UCLA], the head of a long-running field study on marmots, who was worried about its financial future after federal funding to universities was cut. Blumstein told the BBC he recently launched an account on OnlyFans, which is known mostly for sexually explicit content, and began posting "uncensored marmot content" in "an act of desperation". (Also: Parade.)