Adiponectin is a protein with anti-diabetic properties; its levels are decreased in obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. It is shown here that mice with a muscle-specific disruption of adiponectin receptor 1 (AdipoR1) are insulin resistant and less able to endure exercise. The pathway downstream of receptor activation is delineated; the findings suggest that the decreased levels of adiponectin and AdipoR1 seen in obesity may have causal roles in the mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance seen in diabetes

Recent evidence has blurred the line between comets and asteroids, although until now neither ice nor organic material had been detected on the surface of an asteroid. Here, the spectroscopic detection of water ice and organic material on the asteroid 24 Themis is reported. Water ice thus seems to be more common on asteroids than previously thought, and may be widespread in asteroidal interiors at smaller heliocentric distances than expected

A major pursuit in the chemical community involves the search for efficient and inexpensive catalysts that can produce large quantities of hydrogen gas from water. Here, a molybdenum-oxo complex has been identified that can catalytically generate hydrogen gas either from pure water at neutral pH, or from sea water. The work has implications for the design of 'green' chemistry cycles