DE SCIENCE DISCOVERY

Nanomaterial could enhance diabetes treatment Conventional treatments for diabetes can increase the risk of neurological problems, an under-researched side effect.  U.S. National Science Foundation -supported scientists based at  The Ohio State University  developed a nanomaterial that binds insulin to a group of amino acids that includes antioxidants. The nanomaterial improved glucose consumption, leading to better brain function. When compared to mice treated with insulin alone, mice treated with the nanomaterial had improved glucose control and cognition outcomes.  The researchers published their findings in  Biomaterials . "We found in mice that our molecule and insulin combined was better than each treatment alone in reversing diabetes-related problems, and produced dramatically improved cognitive performance compared to all other groups," said Ouliana Ziouzenkova, senior author of the study. The beneficial results could be caused by the nanomat...

A first: Scientists grow plants in soil from the Moon      Scientists have grown plants in soil from the Moon, a first in human history and a milestone in lunar and space exploration. In a new paper published in the journal Communications Biology, University of Florida researchers showed that plants can successfully sprout and grow in lunar soil. Their study also investigated how plants respond biologically to the Moon's soil, also known as lunar regolith, which is radically different from soil found on Earth. This work is a first step toward one day growing plants for food and oxygen on the Moon or during space missions. More immediately, this research comes as the Artemis Program plans to return humans to the Moon. "Artemis will require a better understanding of how to grow plants in space," said Rob Ferl, one of the study's authors and a distinguished professor of horticultural sciences in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Ev...

Rewriting the history books: Why the Vikings left Greenland One of the great mysteries of late medieval history itheorthe Norse, who established successful settlements in southern Greenland in 985, abandoned them in the early 15th century. The consensus view has long been that the colder temperatures of the Little Ice Age helped make the colonies unsustainable. However, new research, led by scientists at the  University of Massachusetts .  It wasn't dropping temperatures that helped drive the Norse from Greenland, but drought. The research was supported by the  U.S. National Science Foundation . "The team found no substantial temperature changes, but found a persistent drying period," says Colene Haffke, a program director in NSF's Office of Polar Programs. When the Norse thrived in Greenland in what they called the Eastern Settlement in 985, they made their way by clearing the land of shrubs and planting grass as pasture for their livestock. The populatio...