Rice University, Biswal Lab. Charles Conn, a graduate student in chemical and biomolecular engineering and Lisa Biswal, associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering have developed a proof foam that could work better than water for extracting oil and gas from dense rock formations.br/Test channels on a microscope slide uses microscopic 20-100 micron channels to test the foam, which is pumped in from the left and exits off the right.br/Wednesday August 13, 2014 (Craig H. Hartley/For the Chronicle)