News Releases

Webinar will explore Mexico’s 'improvised war' on drugs

HOUSTON – (Sept. 2, 2021) – Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s approach to combating organized crime and the country's “improvised” war on drugs will be the subject of a webinar from the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Welch Institute names Matthew Tirrell to chair Scientific Advisory Board

The Welch Institute for Advanced Materials has named Matthew Tirrell to chair its Scientific Advisory Board

Rice physicists find 'magnon' origins in 2D magnet

Rice physicists have confirmed the topological origins of magnons, magnetic features they discovered three years ago in a 2D material that could prove useful for spintronics.

Double-walled nanotubes have electro-optical advantages

Rice theorists find that flexoelectric effects in double-walled carbon nanotubes could be highly useful for photovoltaic applications.

OpenStax surpasses $1 billion in textbook savings

Less than a decade after publishing its first free, openly licensed textbook, OpenStax — Rice’s educational technology initiative — has saved students $1.2 billion.

Sim shows how COVID virus infects cells

A simulation shows the complicated mechanism by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus may infect cells, leading to COVID-19.

‘Smart’ shirt keeps tabs on the heart

Carbon nanotube thread woven into athletic shirts gathered electrocardiogram and heart rate data that matched standard monitors and beat chest-strap monitors. The fibers are flexible and the shirts are machine washable.

Wealth inequality shrinking after Trump-era tax reform, but progress at risk, says Baker Institute expert

HOUSTON – (Aug. 27, 2021) – Wealth inequality dropped in 2019 in the U.S. for the first time in almost three decades, but proposed tax legislation is threatening to reverse the progress, according to an expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Rice lab dives deep for DNA’s secrets

Structural biologist Yang Gao receives a five-year National Institutes of Health grant to detail how complex protein chains replicate DNA and fix errors on the fly. What they find could help treat genomic disease, including cancer.

US must take responsibility for Afghan refugees, says expert

As some Afghan refugees fleeing the chaos in their home country head to the United States, Kelsey Norman, fellow for the Middle East and director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program at Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy, argues that the U.S. is dodging responsibility by distributing most refugees across the globe, which will force them to wade through more bureaucracy.

Physicists find room-temperature, 2D-to-1D topological transition

Physicists have discovered a room-temperature transition between 1D and 2D electrical conduction states in the topological insulator bismuth iodide.

Drive-through voting is a hit with Harris County voters, according to newly released Rice U. survey

HOUSTON – (Aug. 24, 2021) – As Texas legislators continue fighting over election reform, a new survey from researchers at Rice University finds that drive-through voting is a big hit with Harris County voters who chose to cast their 2020 general election ballots in their cars – even among Republicans.

Trailblazing Rice bioengineer is turning cells into disease fighters

Rice University bioengineer Isaac Hilton has been awarded an NIH Trailblazer Award to create synthetic circular DNA that can be used to reprogram cells as disease fighters.

CPRIT grant establishes Genetic Design and Engineering Center

Rice faculty members led by bioengineer Gang Bao have been awarded a $4 million CPRIT grant to establish the Genetic Design and Engineering Center.

National 2D materials research center wins NSF funding

Rice, Penn State and Boise State have won a federal grant to expand ATOMIC, a national research center that develops atom-thin 2D coatings via university, industry and government partnerships.