Natural Sciences

No limit yet for carbon nanotube fibers

Rice University researchers report advances in their quest to make the best carbon nanotube fibers for industry.

NSF renews Rice biological physics center

$12.9 million in funding backs Center for Theoretical Biological Physics research into mysteries at the intersection of biology and physics.

Rice researchers use InSight for deep Mars measurements

Alum Toni Antalis '81 takes reins at biochemistry and molecular biology society

Rice alumna Toni Antalis '81 became president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology July 1.

Tale of the tape: Sticky bits make better batteries

Rice University scientists use an industrial laser to turn adhesive tape into a component for safer, anode-free lithium metal batteries.

Rice physicists win grant to continue Higgs study

Rice physicists win $1.3 million in Department of Energy funding to pursue ongoing research at the Large Hadron Collider.

Future Texas hurricanes: Fast like Ike or slow like Harvey?

Climate change will make fast-moving storms more likely in late 21st-century Texas.

Charcoal a weapon to fight superoxide-induced disease, injury

Artificial enzymes made of treated charcoal could have the power to curtail damaging levels of superoxides that appear after an injury.

Cartwheeling light reveals new optical phenomenon

Researchers at Rice University have discovered details about a novel type of polarized light-matter interaction with light that literally turns end over end as it propagates from a source.

Tour scores prestigious Centenary Prize

Rice University chemist James Tour has been named a winner of this year’s Royal Society of Chemistry Centenary Prize.

Rice professor attracts grant to study magnetism

The Department of Energy awards a five-year Early Career grant to Rice physicist Ming Yi to explore the nature of magnetism in two-dimensional materials.

Purifying water with a partly coated gold nanoparticle

Rice's Naomi Halas has collaborated with Yale University engineers on the creation of a light-activated nanoparticle for clearing water of pollutants. The research is part of an effort by NEWT, the Rice-based Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment.

Fluorocarbon bonds are no match for light-powered nanocatalyst

Rice University engineers have created a light-powered catalyst that can break the strong chemical bonds in fluorocarbons, a group of synthetic materials that includes persistent environmental pollutants.

Dark matter search turns up hint of mysterious particle

XENON1T scientists revealed they had detected excess — perhaps cosmic — particles that may be evidence of long-sought axions.

Excitons form superfluid in certain 2D combos

Mixing and matching computational models of 2D materials led scientists at Rice University to the realization that excitons can be manipulated in new and useful ways.