Study: Early, late stages of degenerative diseases are distinct
November 23, 2020
Rice University biochemists have proposed that degenerative diseases as varied as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and muscle atrophy occur in two distinct phases marked by protein signaling changes that could result in patients responding differently to the same treatment.
Former piece of Pacific Ocean floor imaged deep beneath China
November 16, 2020
In a study that gives new meaning to the term "rock bottom," seismic researchers have discovered the underside of a rocky slab of Earth's lithosphere that has been pulled more than 400 miles beneath northeastern China by the process of tectonic subduction.
Industrial-strength brine, meet your kryptonite
November 3, 2020
A thin coating of the 2D nanomaterial hexagonal boron nitride is the key ingredient in a cost-effective technology developed by Rice University engineers for desalinating industrial-strength brine.
VIPs help open national security research accelerator labs
November 2, 2020
U.S. Army Futures Command Lt. Gen. Thomas Todd III and U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, joined Rice President David Leebron, Provost Reggie DesRoches and Army and Rice dignitaries for the Oct. 30 opening ceremony of the Rice University National Security Research Accelerator (RUNSRA) laboratories in Dell Butcher Hall.
A trillion turns of light nets terahertz polarized bytes
October 19, 2020
Nanophotonics researchers at Rice University, the Polytechnic University of Milan and the Italian Institute of Technology have demonstrated a novel technique for modulating light at terahertz frequencies with plasmonic metasurfaces.
Study: Darwin's theory about coral reef atolls is fatally flawed
October 12, 2020
Rice marine geologist and oceanographer André Droxler knows Charles Darwin's theory about atoll formation is incorrect, and Droxler and former Rice postdoc Stéphan Jorry are hoping to set the record straight with a comprehensive new paper about the subject.
Earth grows fine gems in minutes
October 6, 2020
Aquamarine, emerald, garnet, zircon and topaz are but a few of the crystalline minerals found mostly in pegmatites, veinlike formations that commonly contain both large crystals and hard-to-find elements like tantalum and niobium. Another common find is lithium, a vital component of electric car batteries.
Gemini South's high-def version of 'A Star is Born'
October 5, 2020
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is still more than a year from launching, but the Gemini South telescope in Chile has provided astronomers from Rice University and Dublin City University a glimpse of what the orbiting observatory should deliver.
Musicians may need more than social distancing to stay safe on stage
October 5, 2020
Keeping musicians safe while they're on stage during the pandemic may require more than just social distancing, according to a study of exhaled aerosols conducted by Rice University engineers and musicians from Rice's Shepherd School of Music and the Houston Symphony.