Entries by Linda Welzenbach

AR-MS: The Origin of Modern Atolls: Challenging Darwin’s Deeply Ingrained Theory

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Abstract In 1842, Darwin identified three types of reefs: fringing reefs, which are directly attached to volcanic islands; barrier reefs, which are separated from volcanic islands by lagoons; and ring reefs, which enclose only a lagoon and are defined as atolls. Moreover, he linked these reef types through an evolutionary model in which an atoll […]

Biochar helps hold water, saves money

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MIKE WILLIAMS – OCTOBER 19, 2020 The abstract benefits of biochar for long-term storage of carbon and nitrogen on American farms are clear, and now new research from Rice University shows a short-term, concrete bonus for farmers as well. That would be money. To be precise, money not spent on irrigation. In the best-case scenarios for some regions, […]

Study: Darwin’s theory about coral reef atolls is fatally flawed

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JADE BOYD – OCTOBER 12, 2020   Scientists compile new evidence that atolls are formed by cyclic changes in sea level Marine geologist and oceanographer André Droxler knows Charles Darwin’s theory about atolls is incorrect. But Droxler, who’s studied coral reefs for more than 40 years, understands why Darwin’s model persists in textbooks, university lecture halls, […]

Ocean water could melt precarious Antarctic glacier

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JADE BOYD – SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 Rice helps study threats to Thwaites, a glacier that could add 25 inches to sea level Rice University researchers, alumni and staff are part of an international effort that has discovered a pathway for warm ocean water to melt the underside of Thwaites Glacier, a precarious body of west Antarctic […]

Rice mourns geophysicist, former college magister Dale Sawyer

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by JADE BOYD, Rice News – SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 Rice geophysicist Dale Sawyer, a respected scientist, dedicated educator and former magister of Will Rice and Sid Richardson colleges, died peacefully Sept. 15 after a long illness. He was 65. Sawyer, professor emeritus of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, joined Rice in 1988 and retired this year. […]

Kirsten Siebach in science TV series ‘Life 2.0’

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JADE BOYD – SEPTEMBER 4, 2020   Kirsten Siebach (left), assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, and Scott Solomon, associate teaching professor in biosciences, appear in the first episode of “Life 2.0,” a new television series that’s available for streaming and slated to debut on the air locally at 10 a.m. Saturday on Houston’s KRIV-TV (Fox […]

Small quake clusters can’t hide from AI

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MIKE WILLIAMS – AUGUST 24, 2020 Rice researchers use deep learning to find signs were present before deadly Greenland landslide Researchers at Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering are using data gathered before a deadly 2017 landslide in Greenland to show how deep learning may someday help predict seismic events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. […]