OpenStax to vastly expand open education library with support from national foundations
OpenStax, Rice’s educational technology initiative, is vastly expanding its library of free textbooks, working toward a goal of ensuring that no student ever has to worry about textbook costs again. This work is possible as a result of new grants totaling $12.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation and the Stand Together community.
National parks preserve more than species
National parks are safe havens for endangered and threatened species, but an analysis by Rice University data scientists finds parks and protected areas can preserve more than species.
CEOs with uncommon names tend to implement unconventional strategies
If you’re looking for an unconventional approach to doing business, select a CEO with an uncommon name, according to new research co-authored by an expert at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.
Voters with highest COVID-19 risk more likely to cast mail ballots, survey shows
Voters with the highest risk of suffering COVID-19’s worst effects say they’re more likely to cast ballots by mail this November, even though many of them aren’t sure how to do it, according to a new survey from Rice University.
Funding flows into liquid fuel strategy
The National Science Foundation awards a $2 million collaborative grant for the development of methods to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels.
Boundaries no barrier for thermoelectricity
Rice researchers show how thermoelectricity hurdles some defects, but not others, in gold nanowires. The discovery has implications for making better thin-film electronic devices.
Three research teams earn Dunn Awards
Three teams of Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine researchers have been named winners of the 2020 John S. Dunn Collaborative Research Awards.
Rice Business expert available to discuss Postal Service financials
The U.S. Postal Service was not created to be a traditional profit-making business, according to an accounting expert at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
Quantum leap for speed limit bounds
Nature's speed limits aren't posted on road signs, but Rice University physicists have discovered a new way to deduce them that is better — infinitely better, in some cases — than prior methods.
Having a family member locked up takes disproportionate mental toll on African American women
About 44% of African American women in the United States have at least one family member incarcerated, a disproportionate burden that a new study concludes leads to poor mental health.
Ambient light alters refraction in 2D material
Microscopic crystals in tantalum disulfide have a starring role in what could become a hit for 3D displays, virtual reality and even self-driving vehicles.
Pope picks Rice professor for science academy
Rice University physicist José Onuchic has been appointed by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
'This Place Called Houston': Jim Blackburn hosts webinar on the city’s past, future
Jim Blackburn sees Houston as a perfect reflection of the 20th century, an emerging but disorganized city at the turn of one century that boomed into a diverse economic powerhouse by the next.
Researchers set sights on theory of deep learning
Rice's Richard Baraniuk and Moshe Vardi are part of a multiuniversity team of engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians and statisticians tapped by the Office of Naval Research to develop a principled theory of deep learning.
NSF backs first community platform for smarter wireless
Rice University researchers, with National Science Foundation backing, develop a community platform, 3DML, to accelerate machine learning for next-generation wireless networks and mobile applications.