Biologists discover new insect species at Rice University
Newly discovered insect Neuroterus valhalla is barely a millimeter long and spends 11 months of the year locked in a crypt. It’s legendary sounding name stems from where it was discovered: A tree outside Rice’s graduate student pub Valhalla.
Black and Hispanic communities bore disproportionate share of Texas’ early COVID-19 deaths
Texas state officials did not publish the race and ages of COVID-19 victims in early 2020, but a county-level statistical analysis spearheaded by Rice University undergraduates in collaboration with university faculty has found deaths statewide were disproportionately concentrated in Black and Hispanic communities.
Data from beneath the South Atlantic Ocean
Rice graduate student Kevin Gaastra is in the South Atlantic Ocean this week, working to process and inspect samples on the scientific drill ship JOIDES Resolution.
New book emphasizes key role social interaction plays in creativity
While some organizational decision-makers focus their attention on capital and physical resources, a new book reveals that effective people management should take center stage in the innovation process.
Rice physicist Pengcheng Dai wins superconductivity award
Rice University physicist Pengcheng Dai and two European physicists have won the 2022 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Prize, one of the leading awards for experimental research in superconductivity.
NSF funds Rice effort to measure, preserve quantum entanglement
Rice University physicist Guido Pagano has won a prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study quantum entanglement and develop new error-correcting tools for quantum computation.
Lost birds and mammals spell doom for some plants
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers have gauged how biodiversity loss of birds and mammals will impact plants’ chances of adapting to human-induced climate warming.
Rice wins NEH grant to create digital database of Atlantic slave trade
Grant will further enhance Rice’s reputation as a center for Africa and African diaspora studies, digital humanities
Migrating holes help catalysts be productive
A theoretical model suggests electron holes that propagate at active sites on a catalyst migrate, triggering other sites that continue the process.
Earth isn’t ‘super’ because the sun had rings before planets
Before the solar system had planets, the sun had rings — bands of dust and gas similar to Saturn’s rings — that likely played a role in Earth’s formation, according to a new study.
Nanotube fibers stand strong -- but for how long?
A Rice University study calculates how cyclic strain and stress affects nanotubes and describes how fibers under cyclic loads can fail over time.
Jo Nelson wins NSF CAREER Award
Rice University mathematician Jo Nelson wins a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for young faculty.
A-list candidate for fault-free quantum computing delivers surprise
Superconducting uranium ditelluride is a promising material in the race to create fault-tolerant quantum computers, but physicists are rethinking how superconductivity arises in the material in light of puzzling new experimental evidence in this week’s issue of Nature.
Air bubbles in Antarctic ice point to cause of oxygen decline
An unknown culprit has been removing oxygen from our atmosphere for at least 800,000 years, and an analysis of air bubbles preserved in Antarctic ice for up to 1.5 million years has revealed the likely suspect.
Quirky kveik’s yeasty questions no match for freshmen chemistry students
How Carrie McNeil’s Introduction to Scientific Research Challenges course helped a Houston brewery solve a salty problem
