Natural Sciences

Charles Davis

Charles Davis turns childhood memories into a career

Daphnia, a species of plankton, were exposed to molecular machines developed at Rice University in lab experiments to determine the effects of the microscopic drills on tissue. At left is a healthy plankton with all of its appendages. At right, the daphnia has only two of its appendages after 10 minutes of exposure to light-activated nanomachines. The drills are intended to target drug-resistant bacteria, cancer and other disease-causing cells and destroy them without damaging adjacent healthy cells. (Credi

Tissue-digging nanodrills do just enough damage

Scientists at Rice and their collaborators show light-activated molecular drills effectively kill cells in whole eukaryotic organisms.

Atoms of boron and nitride align on a copper substrate to create a large-scale, ordered crystal of hexagonal boron nitride. The wafer-sized material could become a key insulator in future two-dimensional electronics. (Credit: Tse-An Chen/Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.)

A small step for atoms, a giant leap for microelectronics

Rice materials scientist Boris Yakobson and colleagues in Taiwan and China report in Nature on making large single-crystal sheets of hexagonal boron nitride, touted as a key insulator in future two-dimensional electronics.

Artist's depiction of OwlSat in orbit.

Rice satellite OwlSat set to launch in 2022

OwlSat, a small research satellite designed by Rice University students to monitor ultraviolet radiation, is set to launch into orbit in 2022.  

Heart nanotube fiber graphic

Heart nanofiber breakthrough awaits your STAT Madness vote

Joint Texas Heart Institute/Rice University research into using carbon nanotube fibers to bridge damaged areas of hearts is part of this year's STAT Madness, a competition to choose the year's best university-based bioscience project.

Chemistry of Art

Chemistry of Art class partners with MFAH to give Rice students firsthand experience

In this popular course, chemistry and art conservation go hand in hand.

CPRIT

CPRIT grant draws cell imaging specialist to Rice

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awards a $2 million grant to Rice to recruit physical chemist Anna-Karin Gustavsson, who will study the dynamics and distributions of single molecules in living cells through her development of sophisticated imaging systems.

kids running

Heavy backpack? Good for you

Rice kinesiologists found specific health deficits in home-schooled adolescents compared to their peers in public schools.

Researcher

BioScience's Rosa Uribe wins NSF CAREER Award

Rice University neurodevelopmental biologist Rosa Uribe has won a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation.

coral

Algae team rosters could help ID 'super corals'

U.S. and Australian researchers have found a potential tool for identifying stress-tolerant "super corals." In experiments that simulated climate change stress, researchers found corals that best survived had symbiotic algae communities with similar features.

Rice University geologist Melodie French has earned a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her investigation of the tectonic roots of earthquakes and tsunamis. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Fed grant backs Rice earthquake research

Rice University Earth scientist Melodie French earns a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her investigation of the tectonic roots of earthquakes and tsunamis.

Models by Rice University chemists calculate the chemical and mechanical energies involved in “bursty” RNA production in cells. Their models show how RNA polymerases create supercoils of DNA that allow production of RNA that goes on to produce proteins.

Cells’ springy coils pump bursts of RNA

Models by Rice chemists calculate the chemical and mechanical energies involved in “bursty” RNA production in cells.

Illustration by Ilenne Del Valle/Rice University

Ordering in? Plants are way ahead of you

Dissolved carbon in soil can quench plants' ability to communicate with soil microbes, allowing plants to fine-tune their relationships with symbionts. Experiments show how synthetic biology tools developed at Rice University can help understand environmental controls on agricultural productivity.

Carbon black powder turns into graphene in a burst of light and heat through a technique developed at Rice University. Flash graphene turns any carbon source into the valuable 2D material in 10 milliseconds. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Rice lab turns trash into valuable graphene in a flash

Scientists at Rice University are using high-energy pulses of electricity to turn any source of carbon into turbostratic graphene in an instant. The process promises environmental benefits by turning waste into valuable graphene that can then strengthen concrete and other composite materials.

Caroline Ajo-Franklin joined Rice University as a professor of biosciences with funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

CPRIT grant bolsters Rice biosciences

Rice University recruits synthetic biologist Caroline Ajo-Franklin with a $6 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to bolster the university’s cutting-edge Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology program.