Researchers found that genome-wide plasma cfDNA methylation profiles collected before diagnosis contained early molecular signatures associated with future prostate and breast cancer, with prostate silencer methylation providing the stronger risk stratification. Breast enhancer signals were weaker and varied by subtype and disease stage, indicating that cfDNA methylation may have greater value for risk assessment and surveillance than as a standalone diagnostic test.
Before there was Earth, there was chemistry. In the unimaginable cold, dark clouds where stars and planets are born, carbon molecules assemble into more complex forms—starting a chemical journey that could eventually deliver some of life’s basic ingredients to young planets. There’s only one problem: These molecules need heat to form. At least that’s what scientists have long believed. But new research from FIU chemist Alexander Mebel reveals such chemistry can actually happen at temperatures nearing absolute zero, which is −460°F (−273°C).
On Earth, these complex carbon molecules are usually associated with extremely hot temperatures, such as those associated with combustion. It has long been presumed that heat is necessary for these molecules to assemble in space. But when astronomers detected one of these molecules last year, it was found in the cold, dark region known as Taurus Molecular Cloud-1. This region, where solar systems begin, is anything but hot. Temperatures there hover around −443°F (−264°C).
Mebel’s research, published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, offers a possible answer as to how these molecules formed there and could improve understanding of how worlds like Earth can form.
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Just as a leaf drifts along with a stream, objects in other moving fluids normally drift along with the flow. That is, unless they exert energy to move against it. Although it may be less intuitive, light waves or photons work similarly. To move against a stream of light, an object or particle, like a photon, must either have an external force acting on it or actively use energy to move upstream.
In a new study, published in Physical Review A, a team of physicists demonstrates how a beam of light can “swim” upstream in a quantum fluid of light by breaking action-reaction symmetry and reshaping how the surrounding forces affect the flow.
Exoplanets are exotic worlds orbiting distant stars far beyond our solar system. Ever since the first ones were discovered in the 1990s, astronomers have turned their attention to these distant worlds to understand more about them. Now, for the first time, scientists have detected radio signals coming directly from one of these planets, a massive gas giant named β Pictoris b.
Previous radio detections from exoplanetary systems couldn’t be traced directly to the planet itself because astronomers couldn’t tell whether the signal came from the star or the planet. And no, this isn’t evidence of alien life communicating with each other. The radio waves come from auroras linked to the planet’s powerful magnetic field.
Auroras can occur when high-energy charged particles travel along a planet’s magnetic field lines and interact with its upper atmosphere. On Earth, for example, this produces the northern lights.
When is a billiard ball not a billiard ball? When mathematicians get involved and view a popular game as a model computer.
When you send a ball across a table and it hits the sides, it follows simple physical rules. However, mathematicians see a particle (the ball) whose motion can represent information, while each bounce can help guide it through a calculation.
For years, mathematicians have wondered whether billiards are capable of universal computation—in other words, whether a simple two-dimensional billiard system can run any computer program imaginable.
Reliably verifying the location of a device connected to the internet or other networks is important for various real-world applications. For instance, it could be valuable for authorizing financial transactions, securing communications and controlling who can access specific databases or services.
Some current methods used to verify a device’s position can be deceived using various techniques, such as GPS spoofing, manipulation of location data and relay attacks. These techniques allow attackers to transmit counterfeit satellite-navigation signals, alter software-reported GPS coordinates or intercept and forward verification messages, respectively.
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China recently developed a quantum position-verification protocol that could securely and reliably confirm the location of devices in a network. Their protocol, introduced in a paper published in Nature Physics, successfully authenticated a device’s position using two verifiers separated by 2 km (1.2 miles), narrowing its possible location to a range of 74.3 meters (244 feet).