Current News

Patents as loan collateral can help businesses meet financial needs, study shows

Patents are becoming an innovative source of collateral for businesses borrowing money, and there’s a time-critical sweet spot for lenders trying to calculate how much those patents are worth, according to new research from Rice University experts and collaborators.

Audubon project wins D2K Showcase

Students whose computer vision system can classify birds by species and count them from the air won the Data to Knowledge Lab Showcase.

Owls on ice: Wildly popular skating event draws hundreds of students to holiday blowout

Rice freshmen Anya Gu and Alice Zhou became friends over Instagram when the two new students discovered they shared a passion for ice skating. After echoing their dismay that their university did not have an ice skating club, they joined fellow freshman Imaan Patel and launched one themselves.

Microplastic pollution aids antibiotic resistance

Microplastics dispersed in the environment may enhance antibiotic resistance. A study led by Rice University found the chemical-leaching plastics draw bacteria and other vectors and make them susceptible to antibiotic resistant genes.

Omicron mutations may help SARS-CoV-2 evade antibodies

Software under development at Rice University and its partners reveals mutations in the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 that may help it evade antibodies, including those from vaccinations.

Let there be light

To herald the second night of Hanukkah, Rice students and community members gathered Nov. 29 in the Graduate Commons courtyard by Valhalla for an evening of fellowship, song and tasty treats at the 2021 menorah-lighting ceremony.

Rice profs among historic Greek heroes

Two Rice professors are among physicians and biomedical researchers honored on the Greece bicentennial.

Welch Institute names Sir Anthony Cheetham, Kristin Persson to Scientific Advisory Board

The Welch Institute for Advanced Materials names Sir Anthony Cheetham and Professor Kristin Persson to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Rice volleyball team makes NCAA Tournament field again

The Rice volleyball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will face the University of San Diego at 4 p.m. Dec. 2 in the first round in Austin.

Orbital harmony limits late arrival of water on TRAPPIST-1 planets

Seven Earth-sized planets orbit the star TRAPPIST-1 in near-perfect harmony, and U.S. and European researchers have used that harmony to determine how much physical abuse the planets could have withstood in their infancy.

Rice conference on natural disasters draws international panelists, attendees

The Nov. 19-20 conference focused on narratives around natural catastrophes in the Americas and Circum-Caribbean

Birthday dunc

Duncan College celebrated its 12th birthday with a week of activities Nov. 15-19

‘Bound Away’ conference bringing new research on slave voyages

Art exhibitions at Moody, MFAH will contextualize research presented Dec. 3-4

Ultrathin solar cells get a boost

Rice University engineers boost the efficiency while retaining the toughness of solar cells made of two-dimensional perovskites.

Rice United Way Campaign hits 85% of $250,000 goal in week six

Six weeks into the annual Rice United Way Campaign, the effort has raised a total of $213,127, 85% of its $250,000 goal.