Crowdfunding rife with unintended consequences, says Baker Institute expert
HOUSTON – (March 12, 2020) – Successful entrepreneurial fundraising through crowdfunding can bring surprising tax consequences and failed projects can generate other unpleasant legal concerns, according to a new issue brief from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
New nano strategy fights superbugs
Rice researchers imprint carbon nitride nanosheets to catch and kill free-floating antibiotic resistant genes found in secondary effluent produced by wastewater treatment plants. The strategy would prevent the DNA molecules from making downstream bacteria more resistant to drugs.
Executive education for all is goal at Rice this spring
HOUSTON -- (March 11, 2020) – Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business believes executive education should be available to all levels, not just senior-level executives.
Natural bayou better when floods threaten Houston
A comparison of flood plains around Houston’s two major bayous shows the natural Buffalo Bayou is far better at managing floodwaters than the channelized Brays Bayou.
Forced purchasing won’t promote textbook affordability, says OpenStax expert
HOUSTON – (March 10, 2020) – Higher education faculty are increasingly accepting and even preferring digital learning materials, especially as concerns grow about the cost of traditional textbooks, according to a new study, "Inflection Point: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2019."
The oil price war is on, says Baker Institute expert
HOUSTON – (March 10, 2020) – This week, global crude oil prices are seeing the biggest price decline since 1991 after Saudi Arabia announced its largest price discount in 30 years, according to an expert from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Rice U. expert: Coronavirus crisis calls for 'in extremis' leadership
HOUSTON – (March 9, 2020) – The world is looking to its leaders for guidance and stability during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak — a situation that calls for "in extremis" leadership, according to a Rice University leadership expert.
Strong signals show how proteins come and go
Rice University bioscientists develop a versatile gene signal amplifier that can not only do a better job of detecting the expression of chromosomal genes than current methods but can potentially be used to detect any cellular gene.
New research offers a groovy answer to the question of what causes carbon nanotubes to align in ultrathin crystalline films discovered at Rice.
Robert Ladd elected Rice Board of Trustees chair
Rice University alumnus Robert T. Ladd ’78 has been elected chair of the Rice Board of Trustees, effective July 1.
Tissue-digging nanodrills do just enough damage
Scientists at Rice and their collaborators show light-activated molecular drills effectively kill cells in whole eukaryotic organisms.
Scientists create model to predict multipathogen epidemics
In one of the first studies of its kind, bioscientists from Rice University and the University of Michigan have shown how to use the interactions between pathogens in individual hosts to predict the severity of multipathogen epidemics.
New Rice University music building to be named Brockman Hall for Opera
Rice University's new music building will be named Brockman Hall for Opera and the 84,000-square-foot structure, along with Alice Pratt Brown Hall and its adjoining plaza, will be christened the Brockman Music and Performing Arts Center.
A small step for atoms, a giant leap for microelectronics
Rice materials scientist Boris Yakobson and colleagues in Taiwan and China report in Nature on making large single-crystal sheets of hexagonal boron nitride, touted as a key insulator in future two-dimensional electronics.
Vaping bans are ineffective, say Baker Institute experts
HOUSTON -- (March 3, 2020) – Vaping products have contributed to a decline in cigarette smoking but have increased the number of middle and high school students who are addicted to nicotine — a problem that can only be effectively addressed through regulation of advertising — according to drug policy experts at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
