Dateline Rice for April 26, 2018

FEATURED ITEMS

Harvey registry will track storm’s health toll
Hurricane Harvey exposed Houstonians to increased air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and indoor mold. Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research has partnered with the Houston Health Department and the Environmental Defense Fund to track those affected in order to help researchers and public health officials identify health trends and develop plans to reduce risk from future storms. Marie Lynn Miranda, Rice’s Howard R. Hughes Provost and a professor of statistics, is quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. Similar versions of this article appeared in Houston Public Media, the Texas Tribune, Today Eco and Environmental Defense Fund. This article also appeared in the April 26 print edition of the Chronicle with a different headline, “Harvey registry to track health impact.”)
http://bit.ly/2Hzdq0n
http://bit.ly/2HtBSR3
New health survey aims to quantify Hurricane Harvey’s physical, mental toll
Texas Tribune (This article was included in the April 26 edition of the Tribune’s The Brief newsletter.)
http://bit.ly/2HzdXPV

The single-family house: An American icon faces an uncertain future
Demographic, political and meteorological changes are calling the future of the single-family house into question as developers all over the country are rethinking the nature of suburban development with an eye toward greater density and environmental sustainability. Bill Fulton, director of Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted about how these changes may affect development in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
USA Today (This article also appeared in more than 40 other media outlets.)
https://usat.ly/2JtliRZ

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

The military paid for a study on sea level rise. The results were scary.
Large waves that crash farther onshore are a threat to tropical islands due to the reduced protection from bleached coral reefs. The result is the saltwater contamination of drinkable water supplies. André Droxler, a professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, is quoted.
Washington Post (Subscription is required. This article appeared in more than 20 other media outlets.)
https://wapo.st/2FeE64M

New AI application can write its own code
Computer scientists at Rice have created a deep-learning, software-coding application that can help human programmers navigate the growing multitude of often-undocumented application programming interfaces, or APIs. Swarat Chaudhuri, an associate professor of computer science; Chris Jermaine, an associate professor of computer science, and Vijay Murali, a research scientist in computer science, are quoted.
Futurity
http://bit.ly/2FjwHkt

Bag device could save babies with external intestines
A team of Rice students built a sophisticated system that would be simple for doctors in developing countries to execute as they help infants born with gastroschisis, a condition in which the abdominal wall is not fully closed and some of the child’s intestines remain outside the body at birth. Students Sanika Rane and Owais Fazal are quoted. Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor, professor of bioengineering and director of Rice 360º Institute for Global Health, postdoctoral researcher Meaghan Bond and student Sajel Dutt are mentioned.
Futurity
http://bit.ly/2r28nj0

Students develop app for Parkinson’s patients
The app developed by engineering students at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen may help patients with Parkinson’s disease overcome a symptom known as “freezing” is featured in a video. Freezing is a condition in which the legs temporarily refuse to follow the brain’s command to lift and move forward.
The Weather Channel
https://wxch.nl/2JpM4ug

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Why write another op-ed about another fatal crash in Houston? 
After a fatal bicycle accident near Rice, Raj Mankad, editor of the Rice Design Alliance’s Cite Magazine, authored an op-ed calling for greater safety measures for bicyclists on Houston’s streets. Marjorie Corcoran, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice who was killed Feb. 3, 2017 in a train-cyclist accident, is mentioned in the op-ed as well as a broadcast. 
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This appeared in the Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2Hr0dXt

How Rice students turned Willy’s statue
Alumna Lisa Gray ’88 authored an article reminiscing on when students turned the William Marsh Rice statue (known as “Willy” on campus) to face Fondren Library for a few hours in 1988. Alumni Patrick Dyson ’88, Theresa Bujnoch ’88, Alex Kazim ’88, T.J. Brudner ’88, Chris Cannon ’88, Kelly Miller ’88, Brian Sweeney ’88, Greg Heath ’88, Christopher Ryan ’88, Debbie Schmidt Dyson ’89 and Tom Reeves ’89 are mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This appeared in the Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2HYOFMd

Candidate with ‘no chance in hell’ running for Congress in Houston 
Alumnus Benjamin Hernandez ’07 is featured and pictured. Hernandez is an independent running for the seat held by Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, in the 9th Congressional District.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2JslBfs

Insight: What to know about the 2020 census in Texas
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science, fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted in an article about what to expect on the 2020 census in Texas. Jones is also quoted in an article about the process of choosing the next Texas House speaker.
Austin American-Statesman (Subscription is required.)
https://atxne.ws/2Hx77dS
Allison, Beebe disagree on how to pick next Texas House speaker
San Antonio Express-News (Subscription is required.) 
http://bit.ly/2JqBQK3

Executive director: Here’s how Houston Exponential plans to fund itself
Rice’s Midtown innovation district is mentioned.
Houston Business Journal (Subscription is required.) 
http://bit.ly/2Fi7Nlf

After Houston acquisition, massive Chicago investment adviser looks to expand in Texas
Alumnus Elliott Weissbluth ’89 is featured and pictured.
Houston Business Journal (Subscription is required.) 
http://bit.ly/2HrwM7L

Amazing contributions: Bronze for Rogers honors all doctors
Alumnus Kent Rogers ’67 is featured and pictured.
Corsicana Daily Sun
http://bit.ly/2HYY9qN

Rice event engages local students in computer science
Rice University’s School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) held its first Computer Science Fair for nearly 200 middle and high school students recently. Illya Hicks, a professor of computational and applied mathematics, and McMurtry College senior Molly Reilly are mentioned. RUSMP Executive Director Richard Parr and Martel College senior Mayu Tobin-Miyaji are quoted.
Village News
http://bit.ly/2ujJL49

BROADCAST

KXLN-TV (Houston)
Pedro Alvarez, director of Rice’s Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) Center and the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is featured in an interview about his research and recent developments in Nicaragua.
Univision
http://bit.ly/2HxjYNl (Click the video button to watch the broadcast. An English language version is not available.)

Meet Talithia Williams
Alumna Talithia Williams ’07 will host “NOVA Wonders” on PBS.
PBS.org
https://to.pbs.org/2HYjrop

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Engineers get a grip on slippery surfactants
A team of researchers from Rice developed an innovative surfactant theory that removes the limitations of a 100-year-old model for interfacial behavior in enhanced oil recovery. Walter Chapman, the William W. Akers Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate dean for energy in the George R. Brown School of Engineering, and graduate student Xiaoqun Mu are quoted.
Phys.org (This article also appeared in Nanowerk, Health Medicine Network, Science Daily and Science Magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2Fi2imT

Bots are busy on Twitter, where non-human activity is common
An article cites a Rice study that determined that 23 percent of all Twitter accounts are bots, software applications that typically run repetitive and easily-automated tasks.
Digital Content Next 
http://bit.ly/2Fj9Jdm

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Mount St. Helens fast facts
An article about Mount St. Helens mentions that scientists at Rice, the University of Washington, the University of Texas at El Paso and others placed 3,500 seismic sensors around the volcano to improve monitoring and advance warning systems.
KTVQ.com (This article also appeared in 10 other media outlets.) 
http://bit.ly/2Kh15A0

SPORTS

Villanova volleyball hires Meredith Schamun as new assistant coach
Former Rice volleyball player Meredith Schamun ’11 will join the coaching staff at Villanova University.
Villanova Athletics
http://bit.ly/2HyLrOn

First-year Spring coach, Eisenman, hoping for potential break-out season next year
Rice is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article appeared in the April 25 print edition.)
http://bit.ly/2HvZiVN

Men’s golf comes up short at final hole of C-USA Championships
An article mentions Rice’s performance in the Conference USA Championships.
North Texas Daily
http://bit.ly/2HYqPA9

NEWS RELEASES

Engineers get a grip on slippery surfactants
A Rice group’s innovative surfactant theory removes limitations of a 100-year-old model for interfacial behavior in enhanced oil recovery. The lab of Rice chemical engineer Walter Chapman customized a well-worn model to analyze surfactant-containing fluids that are pumped into wells to coax as much oil possible out of rocks deep underground.
http://bit.ly/2qXQfGN

Sub-sea rift spills secrets to seismic probe
The first study to spring from a 2013 Rice-led international expedition to map the sea floor off the coast of Spain has revealed details about the evolution of the fault that separates the continental and oceanic plates. A paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters by Rice graduate student Nur Schuba describes the internal structure of a large three-dimensional section of the Galicia, a non-volcanic passive margin between Europe and the Atlantic basin that shows no signs of past volcanic activity and where the crust is remarkably thin.
http://bit.ly/2I2Gtur