Artist’s impression of a “hot Jupiter”. Credit: Ricardo Cardoso Reis (CAUP)

Astronomers have detected a new “hot Jupiter” exoplanet orbiting a nearby T Tauri star known as TAP 26. The newly detected alien world, designated TAP 26 b, is about 66% more massive than Jupiter and is orbiting its parent star approximately every 10 days. Located 480 light years away, TAP 26 belongs to the T Tauri class of variable pre-main-sequence stars. With a mass similar to that of the sun, TAP 26 has a radius of 1.17 solar radii and is about 17 million years old.

Such young forming T Tauri stars could provide important information about the formation and early evolution of planetary systems...

Artist’s illustration of Planet Nine, a world about 10 times more massive than Earth that may lie undiscovered in the far outer solar system. Credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Space researchers James Vesper and Paul Mason with New Mexico State University have given a presentation at this year’s American Astronomical Science meeting outlining the results of simulations they have been running to learn more about Planet Nine—a planet that many in the space science community believe exists far beyond Pluto. They presented evidence suggesting that if Planet Nine is out there, it is likely a rogue.

Planet Nine was first predicted to exist just 2 years ago, when a team of investigators noticed what appeared to be an unknown gravitational influence in the outer solar system...

Diverticulitis and it’s complications

Replacing 1 daily portion with poultry or fish may lower risk, findings suggest. A high dietary intake of red meat, particularly of the unprocessed variety, is linked to a heightened risk of developing the common inflammatory bowel condition, diverticulitis, reveals research published online in the journal Gut. Diverticulitis occurs when the small pockets or bulges lining the intestine (diverticula) become inflamed. It is relatively common, accounting for >200,000 hospital admissions every year in the US at an annual cost of $US 2 billion.

New cases of the condition are on the rise, particularly among younger people...

Targeting just one of the genes – known as Spns2 – led to a three-quarters reduction in the spread of skin cancer tumours, pictured under the microscope,, the experts found

A new biological target for drugs to reduce the spread of tumours in cancer patients has been found by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Published in Nature today, the study with genetically modified mice found 23 genes out of 810 unique genes that either increased or decreased the spread of skin tumour cells to the lungs. Many of these genes also caused an alteration in the immune system, such as changing the bodies’ ability to fight infection. The researchers showed that targeting one of these genes – Spns2 – led to a 3/4 reduction in tumour metastasis.

Removal of the Spns2 gene caused the largest change, reducing ...