News Releases

For some peptides, killing bacteria an inside job

Rice scientists study the dynamics of the immune system’s antimicrobial peptides, which attack and eliminate harmful bacteria. They find peptides that invade bacteria and do their damage from the inside are underrated.

Baker Institute and Baker Botts’ Annual Energy Summit to examine global energy transition

HOUSTON – (Sept. 15, 2021) – The 2021 Annual Energy Summit at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy will explore the critical issues affecting global energy markets, oil and gas, electricity, renewables and the environment in a virtual conference Sept. 29-30.

Rice U. expert available to discuss cryptocurrency taxes

HOUSTON – (Sept. 13, 2021) – Cryptocurrency — an estimated $2 trillion market — has created an estimated $1 trillion tax gap and become too big to avoid regulatory oversight, according to a new blog post from an expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Crop-eating moths will flourish as climate warms

Climate change in this century will allow one of the world's costliest agricultural pests, the diamondback moth, to both thrive year-round and rapidly evolve resistance to pesticides in large parts of the United States, Europe and China where it previously died each winter, according to a study by U.S. and Chinese researchers.

Docking peptides, slow to lock, open possible path to treat Alzheimer’s

Researchers have identified a possible “Achilles’ heel” in the frustration of amyloid beta peptides as they dock to the fibrils that form plaques in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Rice among nation’s top 20 universities in US News rankings

HOUSTON – (Sept. 13, 2021) – Rice is named one of the nation’s top 20 universities in the 2022 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” guidebook.

Clean Energy Accelerator startups to pitch investors and community on Demo Day

HOUSTON – (Sept. 13, 2021) – A dozen startups will pitch their clean energy technologies to investors and industry leaders this week as a virtual Demo Day concludes the inaugural class of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator.

Tweezer grant pleases Rice researchers

Rice researchers have won an NSF grant to acquire a sophisticated optical tweezer microscope to manipulate, measure and monitor micron-scale particles.

Climate progress requires competition, not cooperation, with China

HOUSTON – (Sept. 8, 2021) – Global climate progress requires fundamentally altering the economic bottom line that’s the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party’s power– and it will come through competition, not cooperation, according to experts at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the U.S. Naval War College.

Nature’s archive reveals Atlantic tempests through time

Rice scientists uncover how natural archives can record Atlantic hurricane frequency over the past 1,000 years. SUMMARY: Rice University scientists uncover how natural archives can record Atlantic hurricane frequency over the past 1,000 years. More data is needed to help model how climate change will affect storms in the future.

Biden continues Trump’s ‘benign neglect’ of USMCA

HOUSTON – (Sept. 7, 2021) – Mexican officials are right to worry that the United States’ “rules of origin” interpretation in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement could reduce Mexican automobile production and investment, according to an expert from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Rice U. experts available to discuss 20th anniversary of Sept. 11

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.