Dateline Rice for July 26, 2017

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Texas Senate OKs trans bathroom restrictions
The state Senate passed a bill that would force trans Texans to use bathrooms of the gender on their birth certificates, rather than the one they identify with. Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science, fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted.
Huffington Post (This also appeared in MSN.)
http://bit.ly/2v8fRoc

Scientists journey to the world’s ‘lost’ 8th continent
Thirty scientists will sail from Australia July 27 on a two-month ocean drilling expedition to the submerged continent of Zealandia in search of clues about its history, which relates to key questions about plate tectonic processes and Earth’s past greenhouse climate. Gerald Dickens, professor of Earth science, is quoted.
Yahoo! News (This also appeared in Metro.)
https://yhoo.it/2w0HdJm

Señales de television UHF podrian llevar internet al mundo
Edward Knightly, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science and department chair of electrical and computer engineering, discusses the wireless regional area network, colloquially known as “super wifi.”
Ciudadania Express (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/2eNBSBV

Venezuela será el primer productor soberano de petróleo en tener un colapso total
Francisco Monaldi, a fellow in Latin American energy policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted about Venezuelan oil production.
La Patilla (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/2tDyBaB

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Senate subcommittee calls Trump energy research cuts ‘short-sighted’
White House plans to slash research funding at the Department of Energy are being met with resistance in the Senate. The article mentions that Rice receives Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy funding, which President Donald Trump proposed eliminating.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appears in LMT Online.)
http://bit.ly/2eNPrB7
http://bit.ly/2tJU6L1

Metro adding color to its trains to improve safety
Pending approval by its board, Metropolitan Transit Authority is planning to spend $326,000 to affix a more colorful pattern to the front of all its light rail vehicles. The upcoming work builds on previous jobs adding the decals to 19 trains, which occurred after two high-profile incidents where bicyclists pedaled in front of oncoming trains. Marjorie Corcoran, a professor of physics and astronomy who was killed Feb. 3 in a train-cyclist accident, is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appeared in LMT Online.)
http://bit.ly/2tKfdgo
http://bit.ly/2uZmFDM

Pasadena ISD gives more high school students a chance to get associate degree
An article mentions a student who hopes to attend Rice.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2vIAODh

Human smuggling or human trafficking? They’re 2 very different crimes
Kerry Ward, associate professor of history, is quoted about human smuggling.
Texas Public Radio
http://bit.ly/2uX4Llj
Could the driver of the truck where 10 immigrants died face the death penalty?
Texas Standard
http://bit.ly/2eOjdGa
KUT-FM 90.5
http://bit.ly/2uZnpc2 (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.) 

TxDOT taking new steps with I-45 widening project
Kyle Shelton, director of strategic partnerships at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, discusses plans to widen I-45.
True Viral News
http://bit.ly/2uBSz7e

Bun B wants to make America trill again
Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, former distinguished lecturer at Rice, is mentioned.
Houstonia
http://bit.ly/2tZjhEP

Fun-raising
Alumnus Christian Covington ’15 is mentioned.
The Buzz Magazines
http://bit.ly/2uxMvhx

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Openstax adds own homework help to its tool box
Rice University-based nonprofit OpenStax launched a low-cost, personalized learning system called OpenStax Tutor Beta that studies how students learn to offer them individualized homework and tutoring. Managing director Daniel Williamson is quoted.
Educational Marketer
http://bit.ly/2uXRecO

New bill would stymie state taxation of online sales
Joyce Beebe, fellow in public finance at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Accounting Today
http://bit.ly/2tZxBNA

Gadget of the week
In their work toward 3-D printing transplantable tissues and organs, bioengineers and scientists from Rice and Baylor College of Medicine have demonstrated a key step on the path to generate implantable tissues with functioning capillaries. Jordan Miller, assistant professor of bioengineering, and graduate student Gisele Calderon are mentioned.
iNews
http://bit.ly/2tJBhrq

New books detail Gulf of Mexico before the Deepwater Horizon accident
Herb Ward, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering and ecology and evolutionary biology and presently a scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, edited “Habitats and Biota of the Gulf of Mexico: Before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” at the behest of BP Exploration and Production, which leased the platform.
Ocean News and Technology
http://bit.ly/2vJ5t3i

Cloud expo New York: Real-time analytics using an in-memory data grid
Alumnus William L. Bain ’75 is mentioned.
Ulitizer
http://bit.ly/2uWvRta

Latest innovations utilizing haptic technology
Rice’s development of a haptic rocker that allows users to grasp objects with a prosthetic hand to give a muscle sense to artificial limbs is mentioned.
Electronics 360
http://bit.ly/2uwZVdv

Engineers take deeper look at unconventional oil and gas
Understanding how oil and gas molecules, water and rocks interact at the nanoscale will help make extraction of hydrocarbons through hydraulic fracturing more efficient, according to Rice University researchers. George Hirasaki, research professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; Walter Chapman, the William W. Akers Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate dean for energy in the George R. Brown School of Engineering; Dilip Asthagiri, a lecturer and director of the professional master’s program in Rice’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and Rice research scientist Philip Singer, are mentioned.
World of Chemicals
http://bit.ly/2tK5OW3

Flat microscope for the brain could help restore lost eyesight
Rice engineers are building a flat microscope, called FlatScope, and developing software that can decode and trigger neurons on the surface of the brain.
Adafruit (This also appeared in Geeky Gadgets and Electronics Lab.)
http://bit.ly/2uxkJBK

Indented cement shows unique properties
Rice scientists have determined that no matter how large or small a piece of tobermorite is, it will respond to loading forces in precisely the same way. But poking it with a sharp point will change its strength. Rouzbeh Shahsavari, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted and graduate student Lei Tao is mentioned.
Space Daily
http://bit.ly/2tDkWk1

The next big technology could be nanomaterials
Rice’s research on graphene is mentioned.
Strategy + Business
http://bit.ly/2v8k9ft

Malaysia-owned Pacific NorthWest LNG project abandons B.C. plans
Ken Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics and senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and lecturer of economics, is quoted.
Toronto Metro
http://bit.ly/2tKtE4d

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Hotcoldwetdry is going to heat up the 2018 midterms or something
Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, is mentioned.
Before It’s News (A correction on Cohan’s last name has been requested.)
http://bit.ly/2uZryww

Puyallup teens get empowered through community self-defense class
Rice retirees Jim and Sandra Baylor led a self-defense class for high school girls. The couple met at a Rice self-defense class.
The News Tribune
http://bit.ly/2uZ3HNI

More kids live in very poor areas after Great Recession
More children are living in high-poverty neighborhoods following the Great Recession — a troubling shift because children in these neighborhoods are a year behind academically, according to new research from Rice, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin. Rachel Kimbro, professor of sociology and founding director of the Urban Health Program at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted.
Latina Lista
http://bit.ly/2w0xOBF

Potential US sanctions may end up punishing Venezuelans indiscriminately
Erika de la Garza, program director of the Latin America Initiative at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted about President Donald Trump’s proposed economic sanctions against Venezuela.
Addiyar
http://bit.ly/2uWXNwS

Cabrillo festival launches under new leadership
Karim Al-Zand, associate professor of composition and theory, is featured.
Good Times
http://bit.ly/2w00ZVh

The hardest college to get into in every state
Rice is mentioned as the hardest university to get into in Texas.
This Is Insider
http://bit.ly/2tJXpSz

A series of modest steps to save Christian higher education
Rice is mentioned.
Patheos
http://bit.ly/2uZa0AS

SPORTS

Rice’s David Bailiff excited for return of Bayou Bucket against UH
Rice football head coach David Bailiff is quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appeared in LMT Online and My San Antonio.)
http://bit.ly/2uXmdGz
http://bit.ly/2tZuNA5
Local college coaches dealing with increasing competition from out-of-state programs
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2vIQOFb
Baylor’s Matt Rhule vows to not recruit Texas kids who leave state for schools like IMG Academy
The Spun
http://bit.ly/2uXcMH8

The Bix 7 women’s field at a glance
Alumna Becky Wade ’11 is mentioned.
Quad-City Times
http://bit.ly/2vJhg1C

Pac-12 networks announces new and expanded fall programming for 2017 football season
Rice’s upcoming game against Stanford is mentioned.
Pac-12
http://pac12.me/2tZfrvr

Kubiak pays a visit to Rice football practice
Rice is mentioned.
One News Page
http://bit.ly/2tK0hyG
KCNC-TV (Denver)
http://bit.ly/2eONIeV
KOA-AM (Denver)
http://bit.ly/2uZX39V (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.) 

6 transfers that should provide a spark for their SEC basketball teams
Two students who transferred from Rice are mentioned.
Gainesville Sun
http://bit.ly/2h373Kh

#Pac12FB schedule analysis — Part I: The south
Rice football is mentioned.
Pacific Takes
http://bit.ly/2vJcTnc

Rice fall camp gets underway before most NFL teams report
The Owls are the first team to open fall football camp because of their Aug. 26 game in Australia. Rice football head coach David Bailiff is quoted.
SBNation
http://bit.ly/2vJrEGK

NEWS RELEASES

Triple-layer catalyst does double duty
Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen to produce clean energy can be simplified with a single catalyst developed by scientists at Rice University and the University of Houston. Rice chemist Kenton Whitmire and Houston electrical and computer engineer Jiming Bao and their labs developed the film to overcome barriers that usually make a catalyst good for producing either oxygen or hydrogen, but not both simultaneously.
http://bit.ly/2tJRvRB

Paper details developments toward high-temperature batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are popular power sources for cellphones and other electronics, but problematic in extreme heat or cold. A Rice University laboratory has suggested ways to extend their range. Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan and members of his lab have published a review that analyzes recent progress in lithium-ion technology and suggests how to make the batteries more adaptable for challenging conditions.
http://bit.ly/2uZvKMQ