News Finding: As the cells moved, their push-pull motion caused movement in the gel as well.
Paper Finding: Statistical analyses of these motions confirm that such a layer is solid-like and jammed.
News Context: The videos, shown above, show that the normal cells are nearly pentagon-shaped and are jammed--they hardly move at all--while the asthmatic cells become more spindle shaped and are unjammed--they constantly move and swirl. As the cells moved, their push-pull motion caused movement in the gel as well. Next steps
  
  Now that it's known that epithelial cells in asthmatic airways are oddly shaped and are not jammed, scientists have to figure out why it's happening--whether it's asthma causing the cells to unjam, or if it's the unjamming of these cells that causes asthma.
Paper Context: Cellular motions are relatively small, cellular rearrangements among neighbouring cells are rare, and each cell remains virtually caged by those immediate neighbours. Statistical analyses of these motions confirm that such a layer is solid-like and jammed. 1 ) is sufficient to trigger large cellular motions and cooperative cellular rearrangements.