Jeff Falk

Quantum dots keep atoms spaced to boost catalysis

Rice engineers use graphene quantum dots to trap transition metals for high atom loading in single atom catalysis.

Housing in Houston: Tough times for tenants, would-be homeowners

HOUSTON – (June 22, 2021) – Houston's share of homeowners is dropping, and a growing number of renters interested in buying a home find themselves shut out of the market, according to a new report from Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Nightside radio could help reveal exoplanet details

Rice scientists enhance models that could be used to detect magnetosphere activity on exoplanets. The Rice model adds data from nightside activity that could increase signals by at least an order of magnitude.

Study examines how breast implant surfaces affect immune response

Rice University bioengineers collaborated on a six-year study that systematically analyzed how the surface architecture of silicone breast implants influences adverse side effects.

Solar energy collectors grown from seeds

Rice University engineers have created microscopic seeds for growing remarkably uniform 2D perovskite crystals that are both stable and highly efficient at harvesting electricity from sunlight.

‘Flashed’ nanodiamonds are just a phase

The “flash” process developed at Rice University can turn carbon black into functionalized nanodiamond and other materials. The carbon atoms evolved through several phases depending on the length of the flash.

CLEAN Future Act’s oil field-produced water provision could undermine energy transition, says Baker Institute expert

HOUSTON – (June 21, 2021) – A little-noticed section of an environmental bill pending in Congress could reclassify water extracted from oil and gas wells as hazardous waste, dramatically driving up drilling costs in the U.S. and destabilizing energy markets around the world, according to a new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Executives wildly overestimate financial benefits of strategy planning, research finds

Research shows executives likely to overestimate financial benefits of strategy planning

Rice U. study: Use rewards effectively to boost creativity

HOUSTON – (June 17, 2021) – To boost employees’ creativity, managers should consider offering a set of rewards for them to choose from, according to a new study by management experts at Rice University, Tulane University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and National Taiwan Normal University.

Seismic study will help keep carbon underground

A Department of Energy grant to Rice geoscientists enables development of fiber-optic sensors to find and evaluate small faults at underground carbon dioxide storage reservoirs.

Texas must address groundwater future, says Baker Institute expert

Long-term water security is essential for the future of Texas, and the state acutely needs a common law system that can balance world-scale agricultural activity, industrial development and urban growth while also protecting private property rights, according to new research from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and Texas State University’s The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.

Executives aren't sold on strategy planning, research finds

New research shows executives doubt the effectiveness of strategy planning, which is conducted by an overwhelming majority of large companies in the United States. That attitude may doom such plans’ successful implementation, the researchers argue.

Interesting times ahead for the natural gas industry, say Baker Institute experts

The future of natural gas is complicated in a world where the drive for decarbonization and the need for human and economic development often collide, according to experts from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Popularity runs in families

f identical versions of 20 people lived out their lives in dozens of different worlds, would the same people be popular in each world?

Rice builds FIRST flood-alert system for City of Houston

SSPEED Center's early-warning system covers hospitals, nursing homes, other critical facilities on Brays, Sims, Hunting and White Oak bayous.