A federally funded research effort to revolutionize water treatment has yielded an off-grid technology that uses energy from sunlight alone to turn salt water into fresh drinking water. The desalination system, which uses a combination of membrane distillation technology and light-harvesting nanophotonics, is the first major innovation from the Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment…
Making Vessels Leaky on Demand Could Aid Drug Delivery
The endothelial cells that line blood vessels are packed tightly to keep blood inside and flowing, but scientists at Rice University and their colleagues have discovered it may be possible to selectively open gaps in those barriers just enough to let large molecules through — and then close them again. Rice bioengineer Gang Bao and…
Chemists Develop Hydrogel Strings Using Compound Found in Sea Creatures
Rice University chemists can thank the mussel for putting the muscle into their new macroscale scaffold fibers. The Rice lab of chemist Jeffrey Hartgerink had already figured out how to make biocompatible nanofibers out of synthetic peptides. In new work, the lab is using an amino acid found in the sticky feet of mussels to make those…
Seismic CT Scan Points to Rapid Uplift of Southern Tibet
Using seismic data and supercomputers, Rice University geophysicists have conducted a massive seismic CT scan of the upper mantle beneath the Tibetan Plateau and concluded that the southern half of the “Roof of the World” formed in less than one-quarter of the time since the beginning of India-Eurasia continental collision. The research, which appears online…
Scientists Slash Computations for Deep Learning
Rice University computer scientists have adapted a widely used technique for rapid data lookup to slash the amount of computation — and thus energy and time — required for deep learning, a computationally intense form of machine learning. “This applies to any deep-learning architecture, and the technique scales sublinearly, which means that the larger the…
Dual-Channel Biological Function Generator Unveiled
Rice University bioengineers who specialize in creating tools for synthetic biology have unveiled the latest version of their “biofunction generator and “bioscilloscope,” an optogenetic platform that uses light to activate and study two biological circuits at a time. The biofunction generator and bioscilloscope are a toolkit of genes and hardware that use colored lights and…
SAVI Camera Ditches Long Lens for Distant Images
A unique camera that can capture a detailed micron-resolution image from a distance uses a laser and techniques that borrow from holography, microscopy and “Matrix”-style bullet time. A prototype built and tested by engineers at Rice and Northwestern universities reads a spot illuminated by a laser and captures the “speckle” pattern with a camera sensor.…
Ultracold Atom Waves May Shed Light on Rogue Ocean Killers
By precisely controlling the quantum behavior of an ultracold atomic gas, Rice University physicists have created a model system for studying the wave phenomenon that may bring about rogue waves in Earth’s oceans. The research appears this week in Science. The researchers said their experimental system could provide clues about the underlying physics of rogue waves — 100-foot walls…
‘Preventable’ Asthma Attacks in Houston Cost Millions
“Preventable” asthma attacks among schoolchildren cost millions in health care dollars over 10 years, according to a new study by the city of Houston, Rice University and the Houston Independent School District (HISD). The revelation is part of a project that seeks to minimize risk to students by showing where, when and how often emergency…
New Path Suggested for Nuclear Fusion
Controlled nuclear fusion has been a holy grail for physicists who seek an endless supply of clean energy. Scientists at Rice University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chile offered a glimpse into a possible new path toward that goal. Their report on quantum-controlled fusion puts forth the notion that rather…
Beetles Born On The Edge Make Invasion Faster
Just a little bit of help from evolution allows invasive species to disperse farther and faster, according to Rice University scientists. Rice graduate student Brad Ochocki and ecologist Tom Miller, using the bean beetle as their model, found that generations born on the leading edge of an invasion are far more able to push on…
Treated Carbon Pulls Radioactive Elements from Water
Researchers at Rice University and Kazan Federal University in Russia have found a way to extract radioactivity from water and said their discovery could help purify the hundreds of millions of gallons of contaminated water stored after the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. They reported that their oxidatively modified carbon (OMC) material is inexpensive and highly…
Theory Lends Transparency to How Glass Breaks
Over time, when a metallic glass is put under stress, its atoms will shift, slide and ultimately form bands that leave the material more prone to breaking. Rice University scientists have developed new computational methods based on a general theory of glasses to explain why. A new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of…
Scientist Probes Ways to Turn Cement’s Weakness to Strength
Concrete isn’t thought of as a plastic, but plasticity at small scales boosts concrete’s utility as the world’s most-used material by letting it constantly adjust to stress, decades and sometimes even centuries after hardening. Rice University researchers are a step closer to understanding why. The Rice lab of materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari performed an atom-level…
Carbon Dots Dash Toward ‘Green’ Recycling Role
Graphene quantum dots may offer a simple way to recycle waste carbon dioxide into valuable fuel rather than release it into the atmosphere or bury it underground, according to Rice University scientists. Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) are an efficient electrocatalyst to make complex hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide, according to the research team led by Rice materials…
Light Provides Pull for Future Nanocatalyst Measurement
Rice University nanophotonics researcher Isabell Thomann uses lasers, light-activated materials and light-measuring nanoscale tips to push the boundaries of experimental nanoscience, but light is providing the pull in her latest study. In a new paper in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters, Thomann and colleagues, including postdoctoral fellow Thejaswi Tumkur and graduate student Xiao Yang,…
Mexico’s Energy Reform Calls for New Water Policy
Bioscience Grants Benefit Cutting-Edge Research
Bumpy Surfaces, Graphene Beat the Heat in Devices
Bumpy surfaces with graphene between would help dissipate heat in next-generation microelectronic devices, according to Rice University scientists. Their theoretical studies show that enhancing the interface between gallium nitride semiconductors and diamond heat sinks would allow phonons – quasiparticles of sound that also carry heat – to disperse more efficiently. Heat sinks are used to carry heat…
Pine Product Offers Fresh Take on Fine Chemical Synthesis
The goop from pine trees that contains compounds known as terpenes is used in the manufacture of food, cosmetics and drugs, but it might become even more valuable as a chemical reagent made through a process developed by scientists at Rice University. The Rice lab of synthetic chemist László Kürti reported its success at creating…
Hunt for Huntington’s Cause Yield Clues
Rice University scientists have uncovered new details about how a repeating nucleotide sequence in the gene for a mutant protein may trigger Huntington’s and other neurological diseases. Researchers at Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics used computer models to analyze proteins suspected of misfolding and forming plaques in the brains of patients with neurological diseases.…
2D Material a Brittle Surprise
Scientists at Rice University have discovered that an atom-thick material being eyed for flexible electronics and next-generation optical devices is more brittle than they expected. The Rice team led by materials scientist Jun Lou tested the tensile strength of two-dimensional, semiconducting molybdenum diselenide and discovered that flaws as small as one missing atom can initiate…
Light Drives Single-Molecule Nanoroadsters
Scientists at Rice University and at the University of Graz, Austria, are driving three-wheeled, single-molecule “nanoroadsters” with light and, for the first time, seeing how they move. The Rice lab of nanocar inventor and chemist James Tour synthesized light-driven nanocars six years ago, but with the aid of experimental physicists in Austria, they’re now able…
Scientists: Boron Nitride-Graphene Hybrid May Be Right for Next-Gen Green Cars
Layers of graphene separated by nanotube pillars of boron nitride may be a suitable material to store hydrogen fuel in cars, according to Rice University scientists. The Department of Energy has set benchmarks for storage materials that would make hydrogen a practical fuel for light-duty vehicles. The Rice lab of materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari determined in a…