A Neptune-sized planet denser than steel has been discovered by an international team of astronomers, who believe its composition could be the result of a giant planetary clash. TOI-1853b’s mass is almost twice that of any other similar-sized planet known and its density is incredibly high, meaning that it is made up of a larger fraction of rock than would typically be expected at that scale.

In the study, published August 30 in Nature, scientists led by Luca Naponiello of University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Bristol suggest that this is the result of planetary collisions. These huge impacts would have removed some of the lighter atmosphere and water leaving a multitude of rock behind.

Senior Research Associate and co author Dr...

Experiments promote a curious flipside of decaying monopoles: A reality where particle physics is quite literally turned on its head. The field of quantum physics is rife with paths leading to tantalising new areas of study, but one rabbit hole offers a unique vantage point into a world where particles behave differently — through the proverbial looking glass.

Dubbed the ‘Alice ring’ after Lewis Carroll’s world-renowned stories on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the appearance of this object verifies a decades-old theory on how monopoles decay...

Findings from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research reveal a new Australian drug that targets scar-like ‘fibrotic’ tissue within tumors shows promise for treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, one of the most aggressive forms of pancreatic cancer with a five-year survival rate of less than 10%.

The research in mouse models showed that when given in combination with chemotherapy, the drug PXS-5505 increased survival time by more than 35%, compared to chemotherapy treatment alone.

“The preclinical validation of this first-in-class anti-fibrotic drug marks a major milestone in our quest to overcome the significant challenges in treating pancreatic cancer and brings hope to patients and their families,” says Associate Professor Thomas Cox, head of the Matrix & Metastasis Lab ...

Data and security breaches are becoming increasingly common, highlighting the vulnerabilities of existing messaging and communications platforms. Devising computational tools and systems that better protect sensitive data against malicious attacks is therefore of utmost importance.

With this in mind, researchers at bKash Limited, Syracuse University and other institutes worldwide recently developed Quarks, a new, decentralized messaging network based on blockchain technology...