Dateline Rice for Nov. 25, 2015

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Why you don’t need to groan if your child’s first words are ‘Walmart’ or ‘Pizza Hut’
Rice’s Oral & Written Language Laboratory at the Gabriela Mistral Center for Early Childhood Education is helping refugee children learn English through storytelling. Debbie Paz, associate director of early literacy and bilingual programs at Rice’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, is quoted.
PBS NewsHour
http://to.pbs.org/1N75w9c

No lens? No problem for FlatCam
Rice University engineers introduce FlatCam, an extremely thin, lens-less camera system that uses sophisticated algorithms to record images and videos. It may enable such novel applications as large format, flexible and curved sensors. Richard Baraniuk, the Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of Rice’s OpenStax College, and Aswin Sankaranarayanan, adjunct assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, are quoted. Ashok Veeraraghavan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Jacob Robinson, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, are mentioned.
Science 360
http://1.usa.gov/1kTF4d0
Ditching the lens enables superslim FlatCam that’s thinner than a dime
Gizmag
http://bit.ly/1MCpMlO
Flat camera invented at Rice University looks into the future
i-Connect007 (This article also appeared in Overclockers Club and Fars News Agency.)
http://bit.ly/1XdWpys
The FlatCam lens-less camera is thinner than a coin
PetaPixel
http://bit.ly/1OfyqJB
System bits: Nov. 24
Semiconductor Engineering
http://bit.ly/1Ogv60J
FlatCam, l’appareil photo sans objectif plus fin qu’une pièce de monnaie
Free.fr
http://bit.ly/21g2mu5

A stunning art installation inspired by Islam, for everyone
A new installation called “Intersections” by artist Anila Agha is featured. It will be on display in Rice Gallery through Dec. 6.
The Atlantic
http://theatln.tc/1Oezey9

Scientists are making high-tech booze with light instead of heat
Rice researchers found a new way to efficiently distil alcohol from water using light. Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy, and materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted.
Yahoo! News (This article also appeared in Tech.Mic.)
http://yhoo.it/1N7PiMY

Blood test results vary from drop to drop in fingerprick tests
Fingerprick blood tests are becoming more common, but a Rice University study finds that fingerprick test results can vary significantly from drop to drop. The study found that as many as six to nine drops of blood were needed for consistent measurements of hemoglobin, white blood cells and platelets. Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor, director of the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering and of Rice 360°: Institute for Global Health Technologies, and graduate student Meaghan Bond are quoted.
National Science Foundation
http://1.usa.gov/1XfCyiu

Video reading series Thanksgiving edition: 5 emerging Houston poets you should know about
The Rice Gallery is mentioned in an article about Houston poets and poetry attractions.
Huffington Post (This article also appeared in My Informs.)
http://huff.to/1LzAvcV

College can kill our colorblindness (if we let it)
Alumna Heather Caliri ’99 authored an op-ed about diversity awareness.
Christianity Today
http://bit.ly/1T1rb79

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Russia-Turkey tensions push oil up
Kenneth Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies, the James A. Baker III and Susan Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics and lecturer of economics, comments on the conflict between Russia and Turkey.
Houston Chronicle (This appeared on the front of the Business section. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1TeCERq

For many, free shipping is the deal to beat
A majority of holiday shoppers cited free shipping as the main reason they buy gifts online. Utpal Dholakia, the George R. Brown Chair of Marketing and professor of management at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, is quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1I9EIZS

Student blog: Iranian women and the fight against violence — legal and cultural barriers
Will Rice College junior Yasna Haghdoost authored a blog post about the difficulties and disadvantages Iranian women endure in cases of violence and sexual disobedience. She is an intern at the Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Women’s Rights in the Middle East Program.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1MRkFfG

Student blog: Why is the peso’s value declining? 
Hanszen College sophomore Raul DeLira authored a blog post explaining the decline in value of Mexico’s peso. DeLira is an intern for the Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Mexico Center.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1SkcEUb

Governor Abbott plans trip to Cuba this weekend
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science and fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, comments on Gov. Greg Abbott’s trip to Cuba for the first Texas trade mission.
WOAI.com
http://bit.ly/1XqSIQP

BROADCAST

KRIV-TV
Richard Stoll, the Albert Thomas Chair in Political Science and scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, discusses the United States’ role in the feud between Russia and Turkey, the migration of Syrian refugees and the war on terror.
http://bit.ly/21fRMTZ

Art museums: What colors are they lacking?
The Mellon Foundation established an incubator program to enlist college students of historically underrepresented races to come to work in the curatorial environment. Jones College senior Jenny Cernada is the first student to take part in the program with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/1IarITK

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Rice wins $2.4 million to study many-antenna wireless technology
Rice University researchers have won $2.4 million from the National Science Foundation to conduct the most extensive experimental research yet of wireless technology that uses 100 or more antennas per base station to send tightly focused beams of data to each user, even as they move. Lin Zhong, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering and of computer science, and graduate student Clayton Shepard are quoted. Edward Knightly, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science, and Ashutosh Sabharwal, professor of electrical and computer engineering, are mentioned.
Phys.org (This article also appeared in My Informs, Wireless Design & Development, e! Science News and Microwave Journal.)
http://bit.ly/21f1WUP
NSF awards $2.4M to study many-antenna wireless technology
AZO Sensors
http://bit.ly/1jjCwmT

Chemical design made easier
Rice University scientists have developed a metal-free process for the rapid synthesis of elusive small-molecule catalysts that promise to speed the making of novel chemicals, including drugs. László Kürti, associate professor of chemistry, is quoted.
Science Codex (This article also appeared in Science Daily, My Informs, e! Science News, Medical News Today and Science Newsline.)
http://bit.ly/1Ogv1Ky

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Rice senior Tom Carroll wins Rhodes Scholarship
Brown College senior Thomas Carroll was one of 32 Americans chosen for a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at Oxford University.
Seating Chair
http://bit.ly/1MCxyfz
UI senior named Rhodes scholar
Voice Herald (This article also appeared in Salem News.)
http://bit.ly/1PYXGn8

SPORTS

Caldwell earns first C-USA weekly honors in career
Rice swimmer Alicia Caldwell was named Swimmer of the Week by Conference USA for her performance at the Phill Hansel Invite at the University of Houston. Swimmers Kiley Beall and Kaitlyn Swinney are mentioned as previous winners.
Swim Swam
http://bit.ly/1OgnZVV

NEWS RELEASE

All eyes on ions at next LHC run
Rice scientists are in place for the next round of discovery at the Large Hadron Collider, which began its first run of heavy-ion collisions in three years this week. The team hopes to learn how quarks and gluons behaved in the microseconds after the Big Bang.
http://bit.ly/1N7Rbt3