Natural Sciences

VegSense makes sense for forest studies

Rice ecologists have created open-source software to rapidly gather field data with Microsoft’s mixed reality headset.

Ramesh named Rice University’s vice president for research

Ramamoorthy Ramesh, a condensed matter physicist and materials scientist with more than 25 years in academia, industry, national labs and government service, has been named Rice University’s vice president for research. 

Tetrahedrons assemble! Three-sided pyramids form 2D structures

Rice chemists have discovered pyramid-shaped gold nanoparticles put their own twist on 2D self-assembly.

Synthetic tools conduct messages from station to station in DNA

Bioengineers used deactivated Cas9 fusion proteins to synthetically control gene expression and reveal new details about natural processes in human cells.

Strain-sensing smart skin ready to deploy

Carbon nanotubes’ natural fluorescence enables a method to detect high strain concentrations, which can lead to damage that threatens the integrity of critical infrastructure like aircraft, buildings, pipelines, bridges and ships.

RSVPs requested for Aug. 4 memorial celebration honoring longtime mathematics professor John Hempel

Rice will host an Aug. 4 memorial celebration to honor the life of longtime math professor John Hempel.

Flashing creates hard-to-get 2D boron nitride

Rice University chemists use their flash Joule heating process to synthesize 2D flakes of boron nitride and boron carbon nitride, highly valued for lending thermal and chemical stability to compounds.

Hidden genes may be tapped for new antibiotics

Rice University bioscientists learn to trigger “silent” gene clusters in bacteria that could be rich sources of new antibiotic candidates.

Nobel laureate, beloved Rice professor Robert Curl dead at 88

Nobel Prize-winning chemist and beloved Rice University Professor Robert Curl died July 3 at age 88.

​​​​​​​Researchers discover new leukemia-killing compounds

Researchers from Rice and MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered potential new drugs for treating leukemia.

DOE backs Rice physicists’ collaboration

Rice nuclear physicists win a Department of Energy grant to research the fundamental properties of matter in extreme conditions.

An Owl’s-eye view of the Higgs boson at 10

Anniversary finds Rice physicists pushing forward as Large Hadron Collider reboots

Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real

Rice scientists create the first boron nitride nanotube fibers using the custom wet-spinning process they developed to make carbon nanotube fibers.

Process to customize molecules does double duty

Chemists develop a method to add two fragments to an alkene molecule in a single process, which could simplify drug and materials design.

Rice lab’s quantum simulator delivers new insight

A Rice University quantum simulator is giving physicists a clear look at spin-charge separation, a bizarre phenomenon in which two parts of indivisible particles called electrons travel at different speeds in extremely cold 1D wires. The research is published this week in Science and has implications for quantum computing and electronics with atom-scale wires.