Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily

1. 'Dancing molecules' heal cartilage damage
   New therapy uses synthetic nanofibers to mimic the natural signaling of a protein that is crucial for cartilage formation and maintenance. Researchers found that intensifying the motion of molecules within the nanofibers led to more components needed for regeneration. After just four hours, the treatment activated the gene expression necessary to generate cartilage. Therapy could be used to treat osteoarthritis, which affects nearly 530 million people worldwide.
2. Climate is most important factor in where mammals choose to live, study finds
   Using data from 6,645 camera traps across the United States, researchers mapped populations of 25 mammal species. They determined that climate, not human activity, was the primary factor in mammals deciding where to live.
3. New understanding of fly behavior has potential application in robotics, public safety
   Scientists have identified an automatic behavior in flies that helps them assess wind conditions -- its presence and direction -- before deploying a strategy to follow a scent to its source. The fact that they can do this is surprising -- can you tell if there's a gentle breeze if you stick your head out of a moving car? Flies aren't just reacting to an odor with a preprogrammed response: they are responding in context-appropriate manner. This knowledge potentially could be applied to train more sophisticated algorithms for scent-detecting drones to find the source of chemical leaks.
4. Building bridges between cells for brain health
   The brain contains many cell types, from the prominent neurons to the lesser-known microglia. The latter are integral to the brain's immune system and play a crucial role as the brain's cleanup crew. A recent study highlights that microglia establish connections with neurons through tunneling nanotubes. The researchers observed that microglia utilize these tubes to facilitate the clearance of toxic proteins from neurons and to promote neuronal health.
5. A rare form of ice at the center of a cool new discovery about how water droplets freeze
   Researchers explain a new mechanism for ice formation. Ice can form near the free surface of a water droplet via small precursors with a structure resembling ice 0. These are readily formed by negative pressure effects due to surface tension, creating ring-like structures with the same characteristics as ice 0, which act as seeds for nucleation, providing a mechanism for the bulk formation of ice.