A novel study from the University of South Australia has identified a range of metabolic biomarkers that could help predict the risk of cancer.

Deploying machine learning to examine data from 459,169 participants in the UK Biobank, the study identified 84 features that could signal increased cancer risk.

Several markers also signalled chronic kidney or liver disease, highlighting the significance of exploring the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of these diseases for their potential connections with cancer.

The study, “Hypothesis-free discovery of novel cancer predictors using machine learning,” was conducted by UniSA researchers: Dr Iqbal Madakkatel, Dr Amanda Lumsden, Dr Anwar Mulugeta, and Professor Elina Hyppönen, with University of Adelaide’s Professor Ian Olver.

“We...

A new atomic device sends high-fidelity quantum information over fiber optic networks. Researchers have a new way to connect quantum devices over long distances, a necessary step toward allowing the technology to play a role in future communications systems.

While today’s classical data signals can get amplified across a city or an ocean, quantum signals cannot. They must be repeated in intervals — that is, stopped, copied and passed on by specialized machines called quantum repeaters...

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...