Dateline Rice for July 26, 2019

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Babies born in space colonies no longer human, biologist says
Scott Solomon, associate teaching professor in biosciences at Rice and author of “Future Humans: Inside the Science of Our Continuing Evolution,” is interviewed about the possible effects of humans reproducing in space.
International Business Times
https://bit.ly/2GwbMyi
Evolutionary biologist: Space babies will be more alien than human
Uncommon Descent 
https://bit.ly/2LIyQOl

Not blowing smoke: Wind has overtaken ‘risky’ coal for energy use in Texas for the first time
Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, is interviewed.
Yahoo!
https://yhoo.it/2OlujDW
EGEB: Wind bests coal in Texas for first time, solar refinery creates carbon-neutral fuel, and more
Electrek
https://bit.ly/2GwcCLf
TUNED IN: HPPR’s ‘Summer of Renewal’ still on
High Plains Radio
https://bit.ly/2SFIDph

Carbon nanotubes could increase solar efficiency to 80 percent
An article features Rice research that suggests carbon nanotubes may make solar panels more efficient. Co-authors Gururaj Naik, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Junichiro Kono, professor of electrical and computer engineering, of physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering; and graduate student Chloe Doiron are quoted.
Popular Mechanics
https://bit.ly/2Mit3yL

Go with the floe: Plaque to be placed near site where massive Iceland glacier once stood
Iceland’s first glacier lost to climate change will be remembered with a monument to be unveiled next month at the site of the former glacier. Cymene Howe, associate professor of anthropology, and Dominic Boyer, professor of anthropology, are featured.
New York Daily News
https://bit.ly/3129FKv
If a glacier melts in the Arctic, the Texas Coast feels it
Texas Observer
https://bit.ly/2Z8QrSN

Is your phone making you fat? People who spend 5 hours a day scrolling have 43% higher risk of obesity, study finds
A Rice study is cited.
Daily Mail
https://dailym.ai/2JWVOiW

Africa’s cities are about to boom — and maybe explode
Todd Moss, nonresident scholar at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, authored this article on the urbanization of Africa.
Bloomberg|Quint (This article also appeared on Yahoo!Finance.) 
https://bit.ly/2K4P01h

HOUSTON/TEXAS

At Memorial Hermann, a pioneering prostate cancer treatment
Doctors at Memorial Herman are conducting clinical trials on a procedure that could revolutionize prostate cancer treatment in the next decade. Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering and the director of Rice’s Smalley-Curl Institute, is mentioned.
Houstonia
https://bit.ly/30ZUv8p

Indicted AG Ken Paxton seeks to move his criminal case to his home turf
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.
Houston Chronicle
https://bit.ly/32SoS2l

Friendswood takes pride in having 3 residents at once in space
President John F. Kennedy’s “moon speech” given at Rice Sept. 12, 1962, is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle
https://bit.ly/2Mef3Wu
LETTER: Climate change is the moon shot of our time
The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Texas) 
https://bit.ly/2YlsUwT
Moon fever
NyBooks.com
https://bit.ly/2MbNBsC
We choose to go to the moon
Campus Rec Magazine
https://bit.ly/2K5cF1P

Democrats pounce as Houston-area Rep. Pete Olson announces retirement
Alumnus U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, has announced he will not seek reelection.
Houston Chronicle
https://bit.ly/2yqlHRH
BREAKING: Congressman Pete Olson to retire
The Texan (This article also appeared in The Texas Tribune, The Eagle, KTSA-AM and The Raw Story.) 
https://bit.ly/2KbC75A

5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week
Rice’s redevelopment of the historic Midtown Sears building into The Ion, the centerpiece of an innovation district that broke ground July 19, is mentioned. President David Leebron is quoted.
InnovationMap
https://bit.ly/2ycki0N

Sushi hand roll restaurant coming to the Heights this fall
An article mentions that Jason Andaya attended Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
Houston Food Finder
https://bit.ly/2ygiiVc

TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL

What can Texas Learn from the Netherlands about flood prevention?
Jim Blackburn, a professor in the practice of environmental law and the co-director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, is quoted.
Pacific Standard
https://bit.ly/2K3J34R

Tour: A ‘Time Out’ for the Origin-Life-Community
James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry and a professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted.
Evolution News
https://bit.ly/2Y2QxyO

Tasbi — Un bracelet pour le retour haptique!
Rice is mentioned.
Les Player Du Dimanchi (An English translation is not available.)
https://bit.ly/2ygyeXw

5 ways you can identify fake and misleading consumer feedback
A study from Rice University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Maryland, the University of Minnesota and National Taiwan University found that customer service representatives who are on the front line of receiving consumer feedback report that feedback can have a key emotional impact on them, which makes them more creative.
MultiBriefs: Exclusive
https://bit.ly/2Y7NFkg

How Saudi Arabia is struggling to end its oil addiction
Jim Krane, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Energy World (This also appeared in the India Times.)
https://bit.ly/2JTkqsO

College Radio Watch: KTRU flashback and more news
An article mentions Rice’s radio station KTRU.
Radio Survivor
https://bit.ly/2Zoldac

Using microparticles to measure oxygen in tissues
The lab of Jane Grande-Allen, the Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering and chair of the Brown School of Engineering’s Department of Bioengineering, has invented soft microparticle sensors to monitor oxygen levels in hydrogels that serve as scaffolds for growing tissues. Grande-Allen and lead author Reid Wilson, an M.D./Ph.D. student at Rice and Baylor College of Medicine, are quoted. Alumnus Matthew Sapp and graduate student Sergio Barrios are mentioned.
MedGadget
https://bit.ly/2SGRUxc

Researchers find first candidate for 3D quantum spin liquid
Pengcheng Dai, professor of physics and astronomy, is quoted.
Sci-News.com
https://bit.ly/2K9NUkP

Texas Tech: CBRE report says Houston trails Austin and Dallas in tech workforce
Rice is mentioned.
Realty News Network
https://bit.ly/2KbNb2C

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Stephanie Jenkins and Justin McCarthy in concert Aug. 5
Alumnus Justin McCarthy is featured.
The Laconia Daily Sun
https://bit.ly/2Yrh48i

Reliving history at the home of human space flight
Alumna Peggy Whitson ’86, the astronaut who has spent more time in space than any other American, is mentioned.
Niagara This Week
https://bit.ly/2ZozzY8

Houston’s highway mega-plan: An environmental justice disaster
Graduate student Kathryn Kundrod is quoted.
Street Blog
https://bit.ly/2JY3rFT

School board appoints new interim member
Gerri Huck, an alumna of the Jones Graduate School of Business, is featured.
Times Argus
https://bit.ly/2Yrelf4

SPORTS

Preseason inches closer
Rice football is mentioned.
The Garrett County Republican
https://bit.ly/2Y5kAWF

Three Ohio State men’s golfers named All-America Scholars
Former Rice golfer Will Voetsch is mentioned.
USA Today
https://bit.ly/2SGS0F4

Oracle Challenger Series returns to Houston for 2nd stop on the 2019-2020 road to Indian Wells
The Oracle Challenger Series announced today that the second stop of the 2019-2020 Series will be in Houston at the George R. Brown Tennis Center at Rice University on November 10 – 17, 2019.
Tennis Panorama 
https://bit.ly/2yfTLQg
Rice University to once again host Invesco Series tennis as part of Oracle Challenger Series
Tennis Grandstand
https://bit.ly/2GvfOXN